Wild Wild Sekiryuutei
by Hanzo Main
Summary: Xanji Myoto's life wasn't exactly 'normal'. He knew that. The world was an odd and vast place, he knew that too. But what he didn't know was that he was going to be forced to enter a part of the world he wanted nothing to do with.
1. Introductions and a date

"Man, I have to say, tits are the best thing ever."

"Trust me my man, you and I are on the same page."

"Why are you guys walking beside me?"

A trio of boys walked on the side of the road early in the morning, wearing matching uniforms. They were walking to their school, Kuoh Academy.

"Isn't it obvious Shishou? We must learn and study from you! In the art of women and combat!" A boy with a buzz cut said passionately.

"Yeah! Plus, the girls leave us alone when we're near you." A second boy, one with black hair and glasses added.

"'That is true." Buzz Cut agreed.

The third boy of the group, the one they addressed as 'shishou', was visibly taller than them by quite a margin. He had wild white hair, and deep red eyes. Well, eye, since his left eye was concealed by the eyepatch he wore over it.

'Shishou' sighed. "Okay, first of all: I never agreed to teach either of you fuck all, in fact, I quite despise you. Second of all: Don't you just get beat up harder after I leave?"

"Honestly, we can't really tell the difference." The bespectacled teen said. His friend agreed.

"Wait, really?" The white haired teen asked.

The bald one nodded. "We speak the truth, Shishou. Honestly, you can only get beat up so many times before it they all just start blending in together."

"Sure they still hurt, but it doesn't really last long. Just kinda sucks getting our asses kicked by girls." Glasses boy said.

"How about you stop being pussies? Also, stop calling me Shishou."

"But Shishou! We desire, no, we REQUIRE your treasured wisdom in the lands of kicking and taking ass!" The bald teen exclaimed dramatically, his bespectacled friend nodding in enthusiastic agreement.

'Shishou' groaned in annoyance. This was Xanji Myoto, a 17 year old male student at Kuoh Academy.

And the other two are Matsuda and Motohama, the two sinful demons of Kuoh: The perverted duo.

And for some reason, they wanted to be his students.

For you see, a few months ago, on the day that Xanji transferred to Kuoh Academy, he had unknowingly saved the two vile perverts from a more-than-likely beating by the hands of the females of the kendo club.

Honestly, he just saw two random dudes sprinting inside the school before leaping into the men's bathroom like their lives depended on it (looking back, it probably did), while he was simply standing placing things in his locker, which happened to be near the entrance to said bathroom.

And when a rather large group of girls in kendo uniforms wielding wooden swords, questioning him on the location of the two 'vile cretins', Xanji was too confused to think much of it.

"I don't know what you're talking about. But, I'm sure you'll find these 'vile cretins' eventually." Is what he said.

After a few disgruntled sounds, and a few oddly flirty looks, they stalked off, and Xanji eventually left as well. Unfortunately, that pair of 'vile cretins' had overheard the encounter, and were watching him walk away.

Later that day, while Xanji was walking home, he was confronted by two boys that looked to be about his age. One was bald, and kinda looked like a monkey, while the other had black hair and wore glasses.

"Hey man, we saw what you said to those kendo chicks, and we wanted to thank you for not ratting us out."

Now, Xanji's first response was "Who the fuck are you?" Which made the duo falter a bit.

Unfortunately, however, a group of guys quickly approached them before anything else could be said.

Apparently, some girl was finally sick of the two perverts' shit that she told her boyfriend, who in turn called his friends to track the two down, and beat them up.

Now, this was absolutely none of Xanji's business, so, he rightly tried to walk away.

However, these men were insistent that since the perverts were near him, then obviously Xanji was with them, and therefore should be beat up as well.

So, Xanji beat the fuck out of them.

And ever since, the two perverts, known as Matsuda and Motohama, have been following him around, calling him Shishou and crap. And having the two most hated people in Kuoh follow you around all the time wasn't necessarily good for one's reputation.

Thankfully however, since he had never actually done anything with them, Xanji wasn't on the level of the two perverts. In fact, it seemed that while Xanji was quite popular (something that was kind of annoying most of the time, honestly) the two were even less popular than before.

Some might wonder, why doesn't he just beat them up until they leave him alone?

Well, he's tried. Many, many times. But every single time, they would simply come back, and then thank him for the lesson.

At this point, Xanji had simply come to the solution that these two were simply retarded, and thus could not be reasoned with, verbally or physically.

"I want you two to understand that I have no intentions of ever teaching you squat. I don't know how many times I have to say it, but I'll say it until you two leave me alone."

Which, Xanji refused to admit to himself, would probably be never. He still wanted to hope damnit.

And then they made it to Kuoh Academy.

And much to Xanji's ire, just like every other day, once he entered school grounds, people started whispering once they noticed them.

"Oh, look, it's those three…"

"Why does he drag those two losers around with him?"

"They must be threatening him…"

"No! That can't be true! Kuoh's guardian is above measly threats from those two weasels!"

"He must be protecting them! His kind, just soul is wasted on them!"

"Xanji-sama, come with us instead! We promise we won't corrupt you like them! ...much…"

'Literally what the fuck?' Xanji thought to himself. Since everyone in this school for some reason didn't know how to properly whisper, a skill a toddler has, Xanji was able to hear everything that was being said.

That was one of the many problems this school had. Rumors started and spread notoriously quickly and students were given the most abhorrent and cringe-worthy nicknames known to man.

Like, 'Kuoh's Guardian'? Sure, he beat up a couple thugs once or twice, but that was only because they were annoying him personally. And even then, it was rare for him to actually fight, with the consequences it had on him.

Another question he had was how they managed to find out that these beatings even occurred in the first place.

"See? This is what happens when you two follow me around like dogs all the time!" Xanji turned to face Matsuda and Motohama. "Just garner extra attention that is completely unnecessary and avoidable if you just left me alone!"

"But Shishou-"

"Shut up! Leave me alone. I have to get to class. Which thankfully, I don't have to share with you two idiots!"

"But Shishou, you must tell us how you get all the ladies' attention!" Motohama said.

"Yeah! They don't even seem to care that you wear that eyepatch!"

Suddenly, Xanji slammed his fist into Matsuda's face, hurling him backwards. His face showed an animalistic fury.

However, it quickly disappeared after Xanji realized what he'd done. He looked down at his fist, his eye wide.

"Sorry." He said simply, before walking away quickly.

Unfortunately, a lot of people witnessed Xanji's outburst, including some female students.

"Ha, the pervs got served…"

"That was harsh… I like it~"

"That's what happens when they try to take advantage of our Xanji-sama…"

"Let's get em too!"

The perverted duo of Kuoh Academy were then pounced on by a group of rapid teenage girls. Who unfortunately for them, were not horny, but out for actual blood.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAH! SHISHOU!" They cried as they were mercilessly beaten.

…

Xanji gave a tired sigh as he walked into his classroom. It was halfway full at this point. Some students turned when they heard the door open, mildly curious as to who had entered. When they saw that it was Xanji, some began talking about him,

Xanji's eye twitched, and he clenched his right hand into a very tight fist in order to not do something he might regret.

He simply walked towards his desk, sat down, and plopped his head on his arms as he waited for class to start.

Unfortunately for him, it seemed fate wanted to test his patience once more.

"Well well well, what do we have here?"

Xanji's body stiffened once he heard the voice. "Urk." He really hoped he misheard.

He then heard a chair being moved, before someone sat down in it.

"Hey, why don't you look over here tough guy?" The same voice said in a low voice. And this time there was no mistaking it.

"I'd really rather not." Xanji said in a tired tone. "I already had to deal with two perverted idiots who can't take a hint. I don't want to deal with you too, Kiryuu-san."

"Ho? You would put me at the same level as those two fools that follow you around all the time? I happen to be leagues above those two, I'll have you know."

Xanji decided to turn his head to look at Kiryuu, if only to glare at her. Kiryuu was a girl the same age as Xanji. She had long brown hair that she tied in pigtails, alongside glasses. And just like every other student at Kuoh Academy, the bespectacled girl wears her school uniform.

Aika Kiryuu was her full name. And she was known to be the most perverted girl in school. Which was actually a bigger accomplishment than one might think. The female students were actually surprisingly perverted when it came to the more good looking male students.

Said male students were few and far between, but still.

"Really? I wouldn't be too sure about that. I distinctly remember catching someone peeping into men's locker room."

For the faintest of moments, pink was lightly dusting Kiryuu's cheeks. However, it quickly disappeared, and a smug/perverted smirk replaced it.

"Psst. As if. All the guys in this school are dumb two-inch-titan dweebs." The female bespectacled pervert said amusedly. "Well, there is an exception." Kiryuu added, staring at Xanji.

"Seriously, you could mistake that thing for a third leg. Just make sure you don't split some poor damsel in half, okay?"

Xanji grunted, before his glare disappeared. "You hoping that 'damsel' is you, right?"

Suddenly, Kiryuu turned red. "W-what? You-"

Before she could finish, Xanji snickered. Then, he started laughing at her. The fact he managed to get her flustered cheered him up a bit.

When he calmed down, he stared at a now irritated Kiryuu with a smirk. "But seriously, that's not ever gonna happen."

Kiryuu rolled her eyes, and stood up. "Whatever, I don't care. I'm not into you. It might be hard to believe, but even I have my limits."

The female pervert left to go speak to some nearby friends of hers. She might be a pervert, but unlike the two losers known as Matsuda and Motohama, she actually does have some friends.

'Great. Now I know how to get her to fuck off.' Xanji thought to himself, before laying his head back on his desk.

Eventually, class started, and Xanji tuned into whatever the teacher was saying every once and awhile.

…

A few hours had passed since the first bell. Xanji, and the other students were enjoying their lunch break.

Since the lunch break was an hour and a half, most people would take this time to get extra club hours in. Therefore, after the first 5 to 10 minutes, the hallways and courtyard were practically deserted.

While being in a club isn't technically required, the social benefits, alongside looking good on a potential post high school application meant that almost the entire student body was in some form of club.

In fact, there was only one student that was not apart of any club at all. And that was Xanji. Even Matsuda and Motohama were apart of a club, the photography club. Granted, they were only members because it gave them an excuse to take pictures of the female students, but they were members of a club nonetheless.

It isn't like Xanji couldn't join a club. It's just that he didn't want too. He didn't care about the potential benefits of joining a club. He didn't even care much for doing well in school to be honest. The only reason he was at Kuoh Academy in the first place was because he had too.

You see, Xanji lived alone. And he received money from the government. Since he was underage, one of the requirements for him to be allowed to both live alone and receive money, was to be actively receiving an education or being in the workforce.

And considering what this school was like, he was definitely considering skipping straight to that option.

On top of that, he had to keep good behavior up, or he'd lose these rights, and be taken in until he turned 18 (which would be like a year, but still). And every time he got in a fight, it almost came to that.

Of course, nobody knew this, and Xanji planned to keep it that way. He was just some dirt poor kid that lived on his own and relied on the government for money, and he hid it well.

But he hated it. He hated living like this. But he didn't have a choice. Life had fucked him, and he just had to deal with it.

There were other options, obviously, like foster care. But Xanji refused to do that.

Xanji sighed. Why was he thinking about depressing stuff like that?

He just wanted to take a simple walk around the courtyard, not reflect on his life choices.

Just when Xanji thought he could go back to said simple walk, he heard something. It was faint, but it still managed to reach his ears, if only barely.

It was a giggle. But not just any kind of giggle. No, Xanji had heard it enough times to know. This was a perverted giggle.

And he knew exactly from whom it came from.

He looked to the right, and could see the changing room for the kendo club, a club full of girls. Who were most likely changing.

The gears spun in his head momentarily, and he soon figured out what was happening. He thought about going over and snitching on them. Maybe teach them a lesson.

'Nope nope nope nope nope. Noping the FUCK out of that. None of my goddamn business. I'm just an innocent bystander that has absolutely nothing to do with this.'

He quickly banished the thought, and promptly walked off. Completely ignoring the situation.

Now, a normal student might decide to intervene in this case, either for truly chivalrous reasons (unlikely), or because it might win them points with the kendo girls (likely).

However, Xanji wanted absolutely none of any part of that. And so, he walked away, sure that the perverts would eventually be struck down with rightly womanly justice.

…

A few hours after that, Xanji was walking on the side of the road, on his way home from school.

The white haired male yawned as he scratched the back of his head.

'Hm. I'm glad those two have photography club after school. Lets me walk home alone.' Xanji thought.

'Maybe if they focus on club and school activities they'll be less perverted.' Xanji quickly let out a snicker at the thought. 'Yeah right.'

'But, I've been getting more annoyed with them recently. Tomorrow's friday, and there isn't anything important going on during the day… should I just skip school? But what would I even do…?'

"Um, excuse me?"

"Eh?"

Xanji turned around, and was met with the sight of a girl. She seemed a bit short, but had long black hair. And her uniform was a deep red, much different from Xanji's.

'That's odd… Never seen that uniform before…' Xanji thought.

"What do you want?" Xanji asked, suspiciously. The girl flinched slightly at his tone, but spoke anyways.

"You… you're Xanji Myoto, right?"

"Well, you see… I heard about you from a friend a while back…"

"Oh, no thanks." Xanji said, turning around. He even started walking away. He knew where this was going.

"W-wait! Please don't go!" Xanji didn't stop, but faltered slightly when he heard panic, desperation, and sadness in her voice. "Please…"

'Fuck. The sad girl cliche. Bah, I got time to kill.'

"You have five minutes." Xanji said, turning around reluctantly. He ignored the good feeling that found its way into him when he saw her beam up at him with hope and happiness.

The girl turned nervous. "Well, l-like I was saying, I heard about you from a friend… and I was curious, so I came by to watch you a couple times…"

'Nice, a stalker. Continue.' Xanji thought. He wanted to say it aloud, but he could tell the ball had only started rolling.

"And, well… you just looked really nice, and gentle… b-but, I thought you also looked a l-little s-sad…"

Xanji's entire body stiffened considerably, and his eye widened.

"So… please… Xa-'

"Shut up."

"E-eh?" The girl asked, surprised. Xanji was glaring at her. Her expression turned somewhat fearful. "Myoto-san?"

"What do you fucking know about me?"

The girl's eyes widened at the malice that entered his voice. "O-oh! I'm really sorry, I just-"

"Fuck, just tell me what you want already." Xanji put a hand on his face. "I wanna go home. So let's get this over with already."

The girl looked hurt and sad. "Oh, alright…" She closed her eyes, and took a deep breath.

"Xanji Myoto, I like you! Please go out with me!" The girl shouted, bowing her head.

Silence surrounded the two on the bridge as Xanji said nothing in response to her declaration.

He was about to immediately refuse her, but he stayed silent instead. He could of instantly denied her, but instead, he said nothing.

Slowly, he walked towards her. He looked down at the girl, whose head was still bowed.

He stood in front of her, but she still looked down at the ground.

"Look at me." Xanji instructed. Nervously and hesitantly, she did so. Xanji stared into her eyes.

"You want to go out with me?" He asked her.

"Y-yes."

"Someone you've never met before? You claim to have been watching me for a while, but this is the first time we've met. And, don't you think watching someone without their knowledge is creepy? Definitely not an attractive feature."

The girl felt like she was pierced with multiple arrows after listening to his rant. In fact, she looked like she wanted to crawl into a hole and die.

Xanji sighed. "What's your name?" He asked. The girl's eyes widened, and she squeaked in embarrassment when she realised that she hadn't actually told Xanji her name yet.

"R-right! I'm s-so sorry for forgetting something like that! My name is Yuuma Amano!"

Xanji hummed. "Alright then, Amano-san," Slowly, a grin made its way onto his face. "How does tomorrow sound?"

Yuuma looked confused. "Tomorrow? But, that's a school day… right?"

Xanji was still grinning. "No, not anymore. Because tomorrow, neither of us are going to school."

"Why?" Yuuma just sounded even more confused.

"Because that's when we're going to go on a date." Xanji said matter-of-fact-ly.

Yuuma's eyes widened. "W-wha-"

"Unless you don't want to go on a date with me after all. It's fine, I'd just be upset at you for wasting my time is all."

"N-no, um, tomorrow is fine, I guess…" She sounded hesitant.

"Great! I guess we can meet up at the bus stop inside the shopping center at 11. How does that sound?" Xanji asked.

"That sounds great!" Yuuma said happily, just glad she had gotten her date.

"Alright, guess I'll see you tomorrow." Xanji said, turning around. He smirked as he walked away.

'Guess I know what I'm doing tomorrow…'

…

'You know, I can't believe I'm actually doing this. And yet I am.' Xanji thought to himself.

The day was friday, and not many people were around the shopping district that Xanji was at, considering it was a school/work day.

It wasn't his first time skipping school. He didn't do it too often, but had still done it a handful of times when he simply didn't want to deal with Kuoh Academy's crap.

What he was talking about, was the fact that he was currently standing by the bus stop, waiting for his date, Yuuma Amano.

The girl hadn't actually been the first person to ask him out, but was the first person he hadn't rejected.

'Hm. Maybe it is the eyepatch…' Xanji thought. It's not like he necessarily enjoyed wearing the thing, it was just easier than not. Besides, the weird looks he already occasionally gets would be on a whole other level if he actually walked around without it.

He waited a couple more seconds, before sitting down on a bench, and started whistling softly to keep himself occupied.

He looked down at his outfit. He was wearing ripped jeans and a black t-shirt. True, he could have done better, but it in all honesty, it was actually one of the five sets of clothing he owned other than his uniform.

"Oh, hello there."

A female voice caught Xanji's attention. It wasn't Yuuma, but another woman. This one was in a rather strange outfit. She smiled at him as she leaned forwards.

"Can I help you?" Xanji asked. The woman nodded. "You can help me by taking one of these." She said alluringly as she held out a flyer for him to grab.

He did just that, and stared at it. "'Your wish will be granted'?" He read the words on the flyer. He frowned at it. "You know, I'm really not interested in this kind of-" Xanji stopped talking once he looked up, and realised the woman was gone.

"What? How did…" He looked around, but didn't see a single trace of her. "That's weird… I didn't feel her walk away."

He looked back down, and he indeed still held the flyer. "Okay, I have the paper, which means no drugs…"

"Oh, Myoto-kun, there you are!"

Xanji's thoughts were paused when Yuuma finally showed up.

"Well yeah, this is the place we were supposed to meet up." Xanji said. "O-oh, I-i didn't mean-"

"I was just joking. Let's go." Xanji said, quickly leading her away.

The two walked around the district, while stopping at certain shops whenever Yuuma was interested in a store. They were often clothing stores, so it usually took a while before they were done in one store, however.

And while it was tiring, standing around while Yuuma looked at different clothes, choosing which she preferred, trying them on (even though they weren't actually going to buy them), Xanji was kind of enjoying. He actually felt at ease, which was odd for him.

"Is there anywhere you want to go next, Amano-san?" Xanji asked his date. Yuuma point a finger on her chin, like she was thinking about his question deeply.

"Well, I think I-" Her sentence was abruptly cut off by the sound of her stomach growling loudly. She quickly glowed in embarrassment when she realized what had happened, while Xanji snickered.

"Guess I know what type of store to look for." Xanji said, with a teasing undertone. "Stop it…" Yuuma whined, humiliated. Xanji surprised her when he let out another chuckle or two, before completely stopping altogether.

Xanji noticed she looked confused, so he spoke up. "What? It was pretty funny, but I know how much teasing can suck, and if you want me to stop I'll stop. Now come on, I've actually eaten her once so I have an idea of where to go."

Then, Xanji surprised her again by grabbing her hand before leading her off again. She blushed in surprise, before looking at him. He didn't even seem to notice what he'd done. Slowly, she smiled. Yuuma was enjoying this date.

"Why are you hesitating? Did you lose your appetite on the way?" Xanji asked. He was staring at Yuuma from across the booth they were sitting in inside a dinner. They both had burgers sitting in front of them.

Yuuma blushed nervously. "N-no, it's just… I'm really hungry, and…" She trailed off, embarrassed to continue.

"Oh, I think I get it. You're scared you're going to devour that burger in an unladylike fashion." Xanji guess.

And if the color of Yuuma's face was any indicator, he was right on the money.

"It's fine, you know. Just eat it however you like. As long as you don't pull out a fork and a knife for it I really couldn't care less about how you eat." Xanji told her.

"R-really?" Yuuma asked, slightly suspicious. Xanji nodded. "Yeah, you're hungry, so just eat however you like. I won't even say anything." Xanji responded.

Yuuma searched his face, before hesitantly grabbing her burger. Xanji smiled, and grabbed his own. He looked down and took a large bite of it, and started chewing.

However, he was slightly concerned when he heard loud exaggerated chomping sounds, followed by loud swallowing sounds.

Xanji looked up, to see Yuuma's wrapper empty, and his eyes wide. Yuuma looked incredibly worried by his facial expression.

"Did… did you eat an entire burger in two seconds?" Xanji asked, shocked. "I… I know I wouldn't say anything… but frankly I'm just impressed." He said.

Yuuma's eyes were now wide. "R-really?" She asked. Xanji nodded. "Yeah, now I can only imagine a beautiful young girl competing in crazy speed eating competitions…"

Yuuma's face turned scarlet. Less at the prospect of her being in an eating contest, but more at the fact that Xanji had called her a beautiful young girl. She clutched her chest, where her heart was hammering against it.

"You okay?" Xanji asked, slightly worried. He only got a quiet nod in response. Since Yuuma was still too embarrassed to speak, Xanji finished his burger in silence.

When Xanji was paying, Yuuma said she was going to step out, and wait for him outside. She quickly left the dinner with a worried face before he could say anything to her.

While Xanji was alone, he pulled the flyer from earlier out of his pocket. He looked it over with a frown. 'Why can't I remember where I've seen this before?'

After Xanji was done paying, he stepped outside, only to see Yuuma beside the door, facing away from him. She was hunched over, and was holding her phone to her ear.

"Do I really have to, Dohnaseek? But he's really nice… we can't just bring him over? Okay…" Yuuma was talking quietly, but Xanji could still hear her, and how her voice seemed to get more desperate and then dejected the longer she spoke to the person on the other side of the call.

Yuuma hung up, and sighed sadly.

"Who's Dohnaseek?" A voice asked from behind her. "Eep!" She turned around, and looked completely terrified when she saw Xanji.

"What?" Xanji was confused by Yuuma's demeanor. "I-i-it was nothing! You really don't have to worry about anything!" Yuuma said, loudly.

Xanji raised an eyebrow. "Okay…? Amano-san, are you sure everything's alright?"

When Yuuma nodded frantically, he was weirded out, and suspicious. But, he dropped it. "Fine, I guess we can keep walking then."

Yuuma let out a huge sigh of relief.

The pair proceeded to walk in silence, until something happened.

"Ooooh, what do we have here?"

Xanji and Yuuma stopped when a playful and taunting voice called out to them. Well, they assumed it was them, since there wasn't anyone else nearby.

Xanji looked to the side, and they were just walking past an alleyway. A thuggish young man walked out it, followed by two others.

'Is this seriously happening? Like, for real?' Xanji asked himself.

"Aw, two lovebirds going out on a date? Don't you two losers have school today?" The thug up front asked tauntingly.

"Boss, I think they skipped." One of the two thugs behind him said. Xanji had to heavily suppress the urge to laugh at the idiotic statement.

"Ara ara, daring aren't we? Was this your idea pal?" The leader asked mockingly. He then turned his now hungry gaze on Yuuma.

She shivered unpleasantly as he eyed her. Yuuma unconsciously grabbed Xanji's arm.

"So, you into bad boys? Well, I'd gladly show you the real thing. You'd just have ditch this poser." The leader said, jerking a thumb towards Xanji, who had gone from mildly amused to glaring hatefully at the thug. Even he didn't know why he'd gotten so mad.

The leader looked bewildered for a moment, before chuckling. "Damn, that's one scary look you've got there. You had me there for a second."

Xanji lifted his glare as he looked at their surroundings.

'There's almost nobody here, and these guys are useless lowlifes…' He trailed off in his mind.

The leader noticed Xanji looking away. "Hey buddy, you ignoring me? You know what, I was going to let you walk away after leaving your girl here, but now I'm gonna put you in a body bag." He growled.

Xanji ignored him, instead looking at Yuuma. He smiled kindly. "Hey, Amano-san? Could you please close your eyes and cover your ears?" He asked.

Yuuma was confused. "Huh? B-but why?"

"I would just really appreciate it. Oh, could you also count to five?" Xanji asked his date. Yuuma hesitated for a moment, before relenting.

She shut her eyes, and placed her hands over her ears.

"1… 2… 3… 4… 5." Yuuma reopened her eyes and uncovered her ears, only to find her and Xanji standing alone.

She was befuddled. "Eh? Where did those thugs go?"

Xanji shrugged. "We just talked things out and came to an understanding is all."

"Really?" Yuuma asked suspiciously.

"'Yup. It was really easy too."

Yuuma wanted to question it more, because she found his story to be impossible, but decided not to question it.

He had dropped the subject when she asked him to, she would return the favor.

So, they walked away peacefully.

However, if Yuuma had looked closely into the alleyway the thugs had come out of, she would have seen three bloodied barely breathing bodies.

…

It was sometime after the pair had eaten, and Xanji and Yuuma were still on their date. They were walking through a park, and it was actually starting to turn dark.

"Wow, we've been out here for a while, haven't we?" Xanji said. Yuuma said nothing, opting to shyly grab his hand, and intertwine it with hers.

Xanji looked surprised, but didn't do anything to separate them.

They continued to walk in a seemingly comfortable silence, before they stopped in front of a water fountain.

Yuuma stepped away from Xanji, and moved closer to the fountain. "Hey, Myoto-kun, I really had so much today. You were really nice to me, and made sure I had fun." She said, her back facing him.

Xanji actually looked slightly embarrassed. "Oh, really? Well, that makes me happy, I guess."

"So, I wanted to thank you for that. This was truly one of the best days of my life."

Now Xanji was surprised. "Oh, okay."

"But, if it's okay with you, I'd like to ask one more thing from you." Yuuma asked.

"Hm, why not? What is it?" Xanji asked.

Yuuma took a deep breath. She braced herself. "Will you-"

"WAIT!" Xanji cried suddenly.

"H-huh?" Yuuma let out, confused. Xanji sighed. "Sorry, I didn't want to interrupt you. But I need to say something too. And I'd rather do it know so I don't forget. Sorry about that." Xanji explained.

"I just wanted to thank you as well." He said, surprising Yuuma.

"For what?" She asked, confused. Xanji didn't notice that her voice was a tad deeper, and was missing a stutter.

"Well, I guess I wanted to apologize as well. You see, the whole reason I agreed to this in the first place was so I would have something to do today, since I was already planning on skipping school." Xanji admitted.

"But, that was an asshole thing to do, and I'm sorry. But, you know what?" Xanji asked. "I actually had fun today too." He said.

"I don't really hang out with a lot of people. People talk to me, but it's not really the same. I'm usually alone. Which I don't usually have a problem with, but I guess it can get kind of boring." Xanji continued, before smiling directly at Yuuma.

"So sorry, and thank you, Amano-san, for everything."

Yuuma was frozen by Xanji's words. At first, she really didn't know what to say or do. When she said those things to him, she was really being honest. Which was why this was so hard for her.

But hearing those words from him, they finally broke her.

Yuuma started crying. Tears were dripping down her eyes as she started sobbing.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" She cried.

Xanji took on a slightly panicked expression. 'Wait, she's crying? Fuck, what did I do? Is that not you talk to girls? I just used the demeanor mom taught me! Was she wrong?'

Xanji approached the crying girl. "Hey, what's wrong? I'm sorry if-"

"No! Stop!" She cried, lashing out at Xanji, surprising him. She immediately, recoiled once her actions registered in her mind.

She fell to her knees. "I… I just can't do it…" She whimpered.

Xanji was about to ask what she was talking about, when they sky above them started darkening, even turning purple. Xanji felt a knot in his stomach.

"So, this is how it ends?" A male voice asked. Xanji looked around, but couldn't find its source, until a man walked out from behind a tree.

"Fallen Angel Raynare, you've failed your test."

…

**Read and Review plox**

**Hoping to have the next chapter out in a week in or less**


	2. An assassination and a brutal talk

"Fallen Angel Raynare, you've failed your test."

Xanji and 'Yuuma' both stared at the man that had just appeared before them. 'Yuuma' had a look of fear, while Xanji narrowed his uncovered eye seriously.

"Who the hell are you?" Xanji asked sharply. The man was wearing a purple suit and a fedora. He gave Xanji a condescending look.

"Don't you worry, human, I'll get to you." He said tauntingly. But the disgust and venom in his voice when he said the word 'human' was evident.

"Dohnaseek…" 'Yuuma' whispered, and Xanji caught it. He turned to her. "Dohnaseek? Was this the guy you were talking to earlier?"

The man, now revealed to be Dohnaseek, clicked his teeth. "Damn, he even heard that? I can see why you were abandoned."

Xanji saw how 'Yuuma' seemed to crumple at those words, and glared at Dohnaseek.

"Raynare, we showed you such generosity by giving you this chance to gain the approval of Azazel, and all we do is ask this one thing from you in return." Dohnaseek said, shaking his head.

'Yuuma' was now also glaring at Dohnaseek.

"And yet, you still failed us. You should understand, failure of any kind is unacceptable. One wrong step and everything falls apart." He continued.

Dohnaseek then returned the glares. "Unfortunately for you, I will not let that happen. I'll be taking your mission over from here." He said with a smug smile. "Oh, and don't try and run away. I'd like to deal with you here as well."

"What the fuck is he talking about?" Xanji asked 'Yuuma', who hesitated in responding to him. "Well? Answer me!"

"Don't even bother kid, this chick is completely useless." Dohnaseek said. "In all honesty, I can't even begin to understand how you managed to survive a day with her in the first place."

When he received a scathing glare, Dohnaseek chuckled. "Alright, I'll tell ya." He smirked.

"The truth is, that girl next to you? Her name isn't 'Yuuma Amano'. It's Raynare. And she, like myself, is not human."

Xanji's eye widened. "... Not human?" He asked. "Then what…" He trailed off.

Dohnaseek still had a smirk on his face. "Yes, although she gives our race a bad name, we both belong to a higher class of being. Fallen Angels." To prove his words were true, a pair of black feathered wings erupted from his back.

Xanji didn't say anything in response. The top part of his face was concealed by shadows.

"Are you surprised?" Dohnaseek asked. "Do you wonder why a being such as herself wanted to go out on a date with a human? Well, she didn't." The male fallen angel said.

'Yuuma', or Raynare, stared at Dohnaseek desperately. "Please! Don't tell him! Just do it yourself! Please!"

However, Dohnaseek grinned savagely. He knew he was going to enjoy this.

"She never wanted to date a pitiful human like you. In reality, this was all a ploy to end your life!" Dohnaseek revealed dramatically.

When Xanji didn't say anything, Dohnaseek explained. "You might be wondering, 'Why? Why me? Why do I have to die?', well, it would be because you possess something. Something that could pose a threat to us."

When he heard those words, Xanji clenched his fists, and almost attacked Dohnaseek right then and there.

Raynare glared at Dohnaseek. "You… You! You lied to me!" Her voice was different, it sounded much deeper and more mature.

Dohnaseek raised an eyebrow. "Ho? Whatever could that mean?"

"He's not a threat! So what if he has one? He's a kind person, and there isn't any indication he'd go wild! Azazel would never agree with this!" Raynare declared.

At the mention of Azazel, the male fallen angel's face twisted. He looked furious. "Azazel is a good for nothing weak bastard! Why should I care what he agrees with? Why do you!? He's a pitiful leader, and once these plans go through, he won't be a problem anymore."

Raynare looked shocked and appalled by Dohnaseek's words. "What? This… this is treason to the highest degree! How dare you!" She shrieked.

Dohnaseek sighed. "Look at me, blabbing all my secrets like that. Well, you'll both be dead, so it isn't like you'll be able to tell anyone."

Raynare grit her teeth. "This is unacceptable! Just saying such things is reason enough for death."

"So, you're both fallen angels?" Xanji asked, finally speaking and interrupting their argument.

"That's right. Hmph, you say those words as if you know something." Dohnaseek answered.

"I've been told about your kind before." Xanji admitted.

Now this put Dohnaseek on guard. The target knew about fallen angels?

Humans were generally unaware of the supernatural. If they were aware, it usually meant they had some connection to it. And connections mean power.

Dohnaseek grit his teeth. "Pfft, you think I'm gonna buy that?" He asked rhetorically. "That's some shitty bluffing skills you've got there. You do know that kind of thing won't help your situation."

Xanji didn't respond to that, instead turning to who he thought was Yuuma.

"You're real name is Raynare?" He asked. The female fallen angel nodded sadly.

"And you are a fallen angel?" Another sad nod.

Xanji stared at her silently for a few seconds, before asking one more question. "As of this moment, do you have any intentions of killing me?"

Raynare flinched at the question. Did she? Well, she had already refused earlier. But why?

At first, she was reluctant, but that had nothing to do with Xanji himself. All recent events had been putting her on the edge.

But when she had actually went on the date with him, she had been surprised by Xanji's kindness to her. Even when he admitted to using her as a time killer, he apologized sincerely, and wholeheartedly thanked her.

Raynare looked over at Dohnaseek, who also seemed intrigued by her answer. She had made up her mind. She shook her head.

Xanji gave a small smile that was barely visible. "Then I'm glad. Just wait here, okay?"

"Oh? Are you planning on fighting me? I wouldn't do that if I were you. Actually, you know what? Come at me. I'll enjoy toying with you a bit before finishing you off. I'm sure Raynare's expression will be-"

"Shut your damn mouth." Xanji cut Dohnaseek off. Said fallen angel glared at the human.

"What? Are you upset? Do you want to defend her something? Her plan was to kill you, dumbass. Are you some kind of dumbass virgin? You gonna forgive her because she's a girl and you're a lonely loser?"

"I'm furious with her." Xanji's casual admittance of that made Raynare flinch. "But right now, she's not an immediate threat to me. And you are."

"Is that so?" Dohnaseek asked, amused once more.

"I'm going to deal with her later. Right now though, I guess I'll just kill you." Xanji said, the air around them having turned serious.

"Kill me you say? Bold words from a brat. But even more so from a human. You seriously think a human can stand up to a supreme being?"

Xanji glared at Dohnaseek, wordlessly lowering his body, and placing his hands on the ground in a sprinting position.

Dohnaseek sighed, and waved his hand in the air. It was surrounded by a bright light, and when it dissipated, the fallen angel held a glowing blue spear in his hand.

The fallen angel launched the spear at the human, who leapt out of the way, before dashing towards Dohnaseek.

Dohnaseek quickly summoned another spear, but before he could throw it, Xanji had already managed to close the distance between them. The human uppercutted the fallen angel, dazing him. Xanji then rammed his knee into Dohnaseek's gut, making him back away.

The fallen angel was breathing heavily from the most recent blow. Dohnaseek rubbed his chin delicately. He was surprised by the fact that the blows managed to damage him.

However, before he could finish nursing his wounds, Xanji had already lunged for him again.

Xanji sent a right hook into Dohnaseek's face, before punching him with his left. Soon, he was attacking the fallen angel with a variety of blows all over his body.

Behind them, Raynare, still in her Yuuma form, was watching in complete shock. "No way…" She muttered.

"I knew he had to be at least a bit stronger than an average human, but this…"

Dohnaseek grit his teeth as he suffered through the barrage of attacks. He decided he'd had enough, and gripped his spear tightly, before jerking his arm to the side, trying to impale Xanji from the side.

However, the human anticipated this, and squatted, avoiding the spear. Dohnaseek grabbed his spear with both hands, before stabbing downwards. But yet again, he missed as Xanji leapt away.

Now, the fallen angel was furious. "You little shit! Those actually hurt!" To think he, a mighty fallen angel could be at all damaged by a single human was rage inducing. Dohnaseek trembled in anger.

He threw his spear at the infuriating human as hard as he could. But of course, it was dodged.

With an infuriated snarl, the fallen angel summoned spear after spear, rapidly firing them with all the speed and strength he could muster.

Xanji moved around, avoiding the spears before they could skewer him. Some came close, grazing and cutting him in the arm, leg, and back.

Fortunately for him, the spears stopped coming, as Dohnaseek started letting out small pants. An indicator that he was getting tired.

Xanji clicked his teeth. 'I can't let him do that again. Those ones almost hit me. It's obvious that one shot from those and it's game over. But that last move tired him.'

Dohnaseek was actually having similar thoughts. 'Damn this human brat, how is he so agile? I just need to nail him once. That barrage exhausted me. I have to play smart.' Even if the fallen angel thought this, he was infuriated at the fact that he had to put effort into this.

Xanji lowered his body again, entering a fighting stance. He had his hands in front of him, similar to a praying mantis.

He was waiting for the fallen angel to make a move, before counter attacking.

Dohnaseek summoned a spear in both hands, gripping them tightly in anger. He threw one at Xanji, who leaned down even closer to the ground before leaping away.

However, when he landed on the ground, the second spear had already been thrown towards him.

As the human leaned back, avoiding the spear, Dohnaseek flew towards him at his highest speed. The fallen angel managed to nail Xanji in the left cheek with his fist, before attempting to hit him with a barrage of attacks of his own.

Fortunately for Xanji, he managed to raise his arms to guard against the onslaught.

This went for a few seconds, before a familiar flash caught the human's attention out of the corner of his eye.

Thinking quickly, he lowered his guard, allowing the fallen angel to hit him. And as soon as Dohnaseek's fist landed, he was hit with a palm strike to the chest that had momentarily dazed the fallen angel.

Xanji quickly jumped back, right on time as a large red spear hurled into Dohnaseek, exploding on contact, and which resulted in a cloud of dust.

With a surprised expression, Xanji turned to the only possible culprit of the attack. And the sight was something he truly couldn't express.

Raynare, the fallen angel that had posed as Yuuma, a shy, nervous girl, was now in a completely different state.

She was in some form of BDSM outfit that was incredibly revealing. But it wasn't just her clothes. She was a tad taller, and her face and body in general seemed much more mature.

"Uh… Raynare?" Xanji asked, unsure how he felt about the outfit.

"I was tired of just watching you fight that asshole while I just sat there watching! Don't act like you didn't need any help."

"No, thanks for that, but that wasn't what I was talking about."

Raynare looked confused. "Huh? Then what are you…" She trailed off, before remembering that she'd transformed. Pink tinged her cheeks.

"Oh, the outfit! Well, you know, fallen angels are creatures of lust, and this outfit is also totally useful in combat! Like, uh…" Raynare struggled to find situations were her skimpy outfit would be useful. Truthfully, she just wanted to show off her body.

Hold on, that's it! She snapped her fingers. "It distracts opponents." She said with a proud smile.

Xanji simply gave a disappointed sigh, which got him a mildly insulted 'Hey!' From the female fallen angel.

"Well, I guess we're done here then. We should probably have a talk about-"

While Xanji was talking, he realised he had made a crucial mistake.

He had let his guard down. He assumed the fight was over, and didn't wait for the dust to clear.

Xanji whipped his head around, only to be met with a spear imbedding itself in his left thigh.

"Ah, fuck!" He hissed, kneeling down and clutching his leg.

A chuckle emerged from the almost cleared dust cloud. Out from it revealed a clearly heavily damaged, but still standing Dohnaseek.

"Damn, looks like I missed the bullseye." The male fallen angel said, sounding disappointed. "Well, I suppose that's what I get for shooting from behind a dust cloud." He ended up shrugging.

"But, I suppose it's done me some good. I mean, with that leg injury, the one thing keeping you alive this whole time is gone." Dohnaseek smiled smugly.

"I suppose I have to give you some credit. For a human, you're a pretty mingle little shit. Finishing you off will be a cakewalk now."

Dohnaseek looked over to Raynare. "You hear that, Raynare? Your little boyfriend's time is finally up. And you're next."

Raynare grit her teeth, before looking at Xanji worryingly. She kneeled, and caressed his injured leg.

Xanji winced. "Hey, watch it!" But it was mostly ignored. 'The light spear will stop any serious bleeding from happening. And he's just a human, so the pain shouldn't be too major.'

She got up, and summoned two light spears.

Dohnaseek raised an eyebrow. "Ho? Now you're going to face too? I would've thought you'd cower all the way through. Were you perhaps inspired by this human trash?"

Raynare glared at her fellow fallen angel. She unfurled her own wings, before hurtling towards him, spear in each hand.

Xanji watched from his position on the ground as the two non-humans fought. Seeing two people flying and fighting for the first time was certainly incredible.

However, a pit was slowly forming in Xanji's stomach. It wasn't easily noticeable, but even though Dohnaseek was weakened by his fight with him, Raynare was still struggling.

In fact, as the battle went on, she was slowly losing ground. It seemed like Dohnaseek was gaining more and more of an edge with time.

'Fuck fuck fuck! I can't believe I did something so fucking stupid!' Xanji snarled in his head. He wasn't supposed to make mistakes like that.

But in the end, he did. And right now, things were looking bad. If Raynare lost, not only would she now certainly be killed for defying orders and attack Dohnaseek, but he would die. With his leg like this, he wouldn't be able to dodge another spear. He would be skewered.

He would be killed.

No.

No no no no no no no! He was not going to die. Not to a fallen angel, not to anyone, not even God himself.

He refused.

Xanji grit his teeth hard as he gripped the spear still imbedded inside his leg. And he started pulling.

He wanted to snarl or howl in pain, but he refused to make a sound. Any sound at all, and he would lose this possible chance.

After a few seconds of excruciating pain, Xanji held the now bloody spear in its entirety in his hands. He ignored the absolutely scathing burning sensation the spear was causing to his hands.

He looked at the fight between the two fallen angels closely. As closely as possible. He needed to be patient, to find an opening of any shape or form. But it still needed to come quick, because if it didn't, he would eventually pass out of blood loss.

And when Dohnaseek jumped to avoid Raynare flying down at him with a spear, and had his back turned, he knew.

That was his moment. His chance to end it.

"You're doing better than I expected, for a younger fallen one." Dohnaseek said with a pant. "Even though I'm like this, the fact you've managed to put up a fight against me at all is admirable."

Raynare on the other hand, was breathing much more heavily. It was embarrassing for her. Even if she was a fallen angel, her stamina and power wasn't the greatest. She knew that.

But she needed to keep going. If she fell, then Xanji would die. And after everything that's happened, all of the kindness he had shown her, the fact that a man actually gave a crap, was incredible. Raynare would not say she loved him, but she definitely liked the human. A lot.

And that was why, she wouldn't let anything happen to- Xanji!?

"What the…" Raynare said with wide eyes. Dohnaseek turned around, and before he could give any sort of reaction, he'd been impaled in the stomach by his own light spear.

The male fallen angel spat blood, and was slammed into the ground as the spear finally dissipated.

"W-why you-" Dohnaseek gasped out, but froze when he looked up.

After hundreds of years of being alive, he'd finally seen it. He'd finally been on the other side.

When Dohnaseek looked up, he saw the expression of a person that was ready to kill him.

Xanji slammed his head into Dohnaseek's face, over and over and over again, until the male fallen angel's face was mangled, broken and bloodied. It was completely unrecognizable.

The human only stopped when he was pulled away by Raynare.

Xanji snapped his head to the other fallen angel, his face still wild. He was huffing and puffing.

"Let go of me, I have to finish it! I have to kill him!" He roared. His body stiffened when Raynare hugged him.

"Stop! Just stop! It's over! You beat him!" She said. "You… actually beat him…" She whispered.

When she pulled away, Xanji's body was limp in her arms. "Myoto-k… Xanji! Xanji!" She cried.

Raynare placed a hand on his chest, before sighing in relief. His heart was still beating, he had simply passed out.

It made sense. Even though Xanji had agility she hadn't ever seen before, and surprising strength, his body was still human.

It didn't matter how powerful he was. The body of a human had its limitations on what it could do and what it could withstand.

Raynare suddenly panicked. Xanji was still bleeding from his leg wound!

"Shit! Shit!" What was she supposed to do? She couldn't heal! No, she just had to patch him up, stop the bleeding. But with what? Raynare wasn't a medic!

As the fallen angel frantically looked around, a piece of paper slowly slid out of Xanji's pocket. It fell on her lap.

Raynare grabbed it and read it. "Your wish will be granted?" She read, momentarily confused. But her eyes quickly widened, and she gasped. It didn't take her long to figure out what this flyer meant.

She was even more surprised when a bright crimson glow appeared, and flooded the area.

...

When Xanji opened his eyes, he was confused when he saw a white ceiling. He lifted his head, and saw familiar surroundings.

He was in his room.

'What the hell? Was that just a dream?' Xanjo thought to himself. 'But why would I dream about fallen angels? Why now?'

He thought about his 'dream', where he fought against the fallen angel Dohnaseek. Xanji frowned as he remembered the details.

'I wouldn't make a mistake like that in a dream… unless it was a nightmare? But that's such an odd subject for a nightmare. Why would there be fallen angels there? It also felt way too vivid for one…'

The human sighed. 'Guess I'll just get this day started.'

Xanji tried to sit up, and was surprised when he failed. That was when his brain finally registered the weight on his chest. He looked down, and saw a sea of crimson red hair.

Someone had their arms wrapped around him, and was snoring softly. And considering the two extra weights he felt on his front, he was pretty sure they were a girl.

Wait, a girl? Xanji really only knew one girl. And he was pretty fucking sure she didn't have red hair.

Hm, maybe that's what it was? Maybe he doesn't remember what happened because he drank a lot? And brought this girl home?

Xanji frowned. 'No, wait. I don't do either of those things.'

Xanji placed a hand on their head, and shook it. "Hey, hey! Wake up!" The person let out a whine, before snuggling their head into his chest.

His eye twitched. "Was I just ignored?" Xanji tried to lift his left arm to fully throttle, but failed to do that as well.

Conveniently, that was when his brain decided to register a second weight, this one on his left arm.

Xanji turned his head, saw a naked woman with long black hair. She had her arms wrapped around his own arm, and her exposed breasts were-

"No no no no no no no. N O." Xanji immediately and roughly wriggled himself out of his bed, causing the girl on top of his chest to also fall out of his bed.

"Ow!" She let out another whine, grabbing her head. It seemed like she was finally waking up. But the process was still a bit too slow for Xanji's liking.

"Wake the FUCK up!" He shouted, immediately causing both women to jump, startled and awake.

They were both greeted with the sight of Xanji standing up a few feet away from the bed, arms crossed.

"Alright, someone explain what's going on here." He said, before pointing to the redhead. "Who are you, and who are… you…"

Xanji trailed off when he pointed to the black haired girl… no, woman. "Amano-sa… Raynare?"

The black haired woman, Raynare, smiled in relief. "Xanji, you're okay." She said in a relieved tone.

"Yeah, of course I am. Now, can I get an explanation as to what the hell happened? And why there are two naked chicks in my bed?"

Raynare smiled. "How are you sure you didn't just manage to land a threesome?" At Xanji's glare, she sighed. "Alright, not the time. I get it. Well-"

"Actually, I believe I should explain things from here." The other girl, the redhead raised her hand, and interrupted Raynare.

Raynare shrugged. "Go ahead then."

As the crimson haired female was about to speak, Xanji spoke up instead. "You know what? Before anything, how about you two put some goddamn clothes on? Are you both some kind of perverts?"

At Xanji's demand and question, the girl on the floor placed a hand on her mouth, muffling a few quiet giggles, while Raynare just chuckled.

"What? What the hell's so funny?"

"You should probably follow your own advice, Myoto-kun." Raynare said teasingly, before looking down. Suddenly, it seemed like she was almost in a trance. "Actually, you know what? Don't. I for one think it's much better this way."

Xanji gained a confused look. "Huh? What are you looking at…" The human trailed off when he saw looked down, and noticed that he too, was in fact, completely naked.

"... I thought I felt a breeze down there."

...

A tense silence permeated through the room as Xanji, Raynare, and the red haired girl that has yet to introduce herself sat at a table in Xanji's small kitchen.

Xanji looked at both women, waiting for one to speak. After a few more seconds of silence, he spoke up himself.

"So, now that we're all dressed and sitting down, I would really appreciate an explanation. Like, right now."

The redhead smiled politely. "Of course. But before that, I'd like to introduce myself." She said.

Xanji nodded, waiting for her to continue. "My name is Rias Gremory. And I am a devil."

Xanji's eye widened considerably, before he quickly got up from his chair, guard up.

"What are you doing here? What did you do to me?" He hissed venomously.

Neither Rias or Raynare were expecting the sudden hostility. Although, considering she bore witness to the previous night's events, the fallen angel was slightly less shocked.

Rias was incredibly surprised, both by the hostility, and the fact that the way he spoke meant Xanji already knew about devils. And that was potentially worrying.

"Tell me, are you aware of the supernatural world?" Rias asked tentatively. She would have to play this carefully.

"I know that devils, angels, and fallen angels exist." Xanji answered, not letting his guard down. The human knew that Raynare was a fallen angel, but did believe her when she said she didn't want to kill him, so he didn't classify her as a threat.

But this Rias Gremory was someone he knew next to nothing about. All he did know was that she was a devil, and most likely an important one.

Rias bit her lip, trying to think of what to say next. The fact that Xanji already knew about the supernatural made things harder. It forced her to change her angle of approach.

"Well, could you tell me what you know about them in detail?" Rias asked, wanting to gather information. Xanji glared at her threateningly. "I just want to know, so I can fill in any holes!" She told him.

"Angels are the children of God himself, who serve heaven and lead the church. Fallen angels are angels that have fallen from grace, due to committing a sin, and are known to be creatures of lust. Devils are somewhat similar, but are beings of sin in general, and that they have the ability to turn other races into devil servantsl. I also know of the great war that went on between the three, that only ended a hundred years or so back."

"Well, your descriptions of the three races aren't inaccurate, but there are exceptions within each race. There are also some things missing." Rias said.

"I was told that was all I needed to know." Xanji responded.

"By who?" Rias asked, curious. Xanji growled at her question. "None of your fucking business." He retorted angrily.

Rias raised her hands in defense. "Alright alright. I apologize if I struck a nerve." She apologized.

"But, like I was saying, you left a few things out. It is true devils can turn other beings into devils as servants, it is for a good reason. Due to the great war, devils have had their numbers reduced to an insignificant amount. As a race, we have the lowest number of members by far between us, the angels and the fallen." Rias explained.

"I don't see how that's important to me." Xanji said.

"It's important because this now involves you."

"And why is that?" Xanji asked, in a threatening tone. But Rias paid it no heed.

"After your battle with that fallen angel last night, your leg was gravely injured, and you were rapidly losing blood. On top of that, you were suffering from mass exhaustion. Exhaustion that could have potentially killed you by itself. The only way to save you was to use my magic to heal you and replenish your energy your. However, that spell only works in members of my household. So, my only option left was to bring you into my peerage, as my devil servant."

Xanji's eye widened and his entire body stiffened. A large pit formed in his stomach. A devil? He was a devil? After all this time, he only wished to never be bothered by the supernatural again. He wanted it out of his life forever. He hoped that after these explanations, they would both just leave him alone.

"I will admit that I've been watching you for a while." Rias said. "But what I witnessed yesterday was remarkable. For a human to single handedly fight off a fallen angel, even if it was one with only one pair of wings, is incredible. And not only that, but I believe that you hold something. A great power deep inside you."

Xanji was still quiet. Now he was too angry to speak. So that's what this was about? Not only was he a devil, but he was a servant. And why? Because this bitch wanted power.

"And I believe the fallen angels sensed it as well. That is why they tried to kill you, because they believed you to be a threat to them. I was lucky I managed to get to you when I did."

Xanji snarled. "Lucky? Lucky!? Do you think I want to be a devil!?" The huma- no, the devil was furious.

Rias actually seemed surprised by his hostile reaction. "Xanji-san, I can understand that this might be a sudden and large change, but I think it would be in everyone's best interest if you calm down. I'm sure we can come to an-"

"Oh go to hell Gremory!" Xanji snarled, cutting her off. Rias raised an eyebrow at the choice of words.

"Come to an understanding? Is that what you were going to say? What kind of understanding could we possibly come to? How could we come to an understanding when you didn't even give me a choice, forcefully turning me into a servant?"

Rias frowned. "It was to save to your life! All other options lead to your death." She said seriously.

"Then you should have just let me die." Xanji wasted no time replying in an icy tone.

Rias's eyes widened. She was in complete shock from her newest servant's words. Did he truly rather die than live as a devil?

"Did you think it was fine for you to just turn me into your servant like that? You just assumed I would be okay with it? What gave you the right to do that?" Xanji pushed angrily.

"Why are you so against this? I saved your life, and with this you will be able to achieve so much more than you could as a human." Rias insisted.

But this just infuriated Xanji even more. His face was starting to grow red with rage.

"What the fuck does that have to do with anything!? Are you even fucking listening!?" Xanji yelled.

"Do you think this is the first I've heard of this? The first time something like this has happened? Well it's not! This power you keep talking about, it's the sacred gear, right?" Xanji asked, to the surprise of not only Rias, but Raynare as well.

'He knows about the sacred gear? Then why didn't he use it against Dohnaseek? As he not unlocked it yet?' Raynare thought to herself.

"You think you're the first one? My entire life people have come for me, asking for me to join them, sensing my power and wanting me as a weapon. They don't care about anything but power. And when they didn't get what they want, things always turned violent. You know why I live alone, with practically nothing to my name? I've lost everything because of people like that. People like you!"

Rias was completely astounded by Xanji's speech. Is that how he thought of her? It was true, she wanted to bring him into her peerage because of the power she sensed from him.

But hearing his words, she couldn't help but feel sad. Had he truly lost everything?

"...Xanji-san… what happened to you?" The crimson haired devil couldn't help but ask sadly.

Xanji's anger momentarily dissipated in surprise at her reaction, before it returned with a vicious vengeance. He was seething.

How dare this bitch pretend to care about him!?

"Get out." Xanji grinded his teeth. "Get the fuck out of my house!" He roared at the devil.

Rias simply sighed sadly. "Alright." She conceded. "I can see when I'm not wanted."

She got up and bowed. "I apologize for causing you trouble, but unfortunately, this decision cannot be reversed." Rias told Xanji.

"I was hoping you'd be more cooperative, but you obviously need time. I'll wait until you feel ready to speak again."

And with that, Rias Gremory left.

When he was certain the devil was actually gone, Xanji looked over at Raynare, who was sitting on the other side of the table, wearing her clothes from their date, which seemed to be a bit tight.

As Xanji slowly sat back down at the table, Raynare felt a heavy weight go over her, as she became very aware of the fact that it was only the two of them in his house.

"I just want to make something clear before you explain yourself." Xanji started. "The only reason I'm talking to you calmly is because I've classified you specifically as a non-threat. But that can very easily change depending on what you say."

Raynare gulped. She was a fallen angel, a member of a race that, as a whole, was far superior in power to humans. However, in the eyes of the fallen angels, she was still quite young, and after seeing this human's display the previous day, she didn't want to get on his bad side.

Seeing how she was taking time to start, Xanji sighed. "Alright, let's start with an introduction. Who are you?" He asked.

Raynare took a deep breath. "Well, my name, my real name, is Raynare. Fallen angels don't have last names, so you can call me that." The fallen angel introduced her real self.

"And who is Yuuma Amano?"

Raynare flinched slightly. "Yuuma Amano is the persona I took on to ask you out on a date, luring you into a trap, and… killing you."

Xanji hardened his gaze. "And I assume this is also because of my sacred gear?" He asked. When Raynare nodded, the human just let out a tired sigh.

"Of course it is." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "So, why didn't you kill me? And also, why did you help me afterwards?"

Raynare blushed softly. "Well, I'll be honest, I was hesitant before I actually met you. But, after going on that date… I guess I just didn't have the heart to go through with it after what you said to me." She admitted. But then, she looked the human over.

He was so polite, kind and gentle throughout their date, but in the past twelve hours, he had been acting completely different. Was he just putting on an act as well?

While she couldn't really blame Xanji for his current behavior, nor did she exactly dislike it, but she would be hurt by the fact that he wasn't being real with her.

And yes, she understood the hypocrisy of that.

Xanji furrowed his brow in thought. "Just tell me the whole story. And what is your current status with the rest of the fallen angels?"

Raynare sighed deeply. She figured at this point, she'd have to tell him everything.

"A few months ago, Dohnaseek and a group of two other fallen angels were gathering a bit of suspicion because they had been lingering around the fallen angel's headquarters for quite a while, and nobody knew why." She started.

"One day, they approached me. They told me they were looking for a fourth member to join their group for a mission in a small japanese town named Kuoh." Raynare continued.

"It sounded pretty suspicious to me at first, so I initially declined. However, Dohnaseek then said that this mission was one handed out by Azazel directly to them, and that it was their choice to choose their fourth member. They wanted to pick me to give me a chance to get his attention, since I was younger. And I quickly agreed."

"Just like that? You abandoned your suspicions with that?" Xanji questioned. Raynare seemed embarrassed. "Yes, I know it wasn't a good move." She admitted, but quickly scowled.

"But after hearing what Dohnaseek said last night, I'm sure they just wanted a young fallen angel to trick into working for them."

"You keep mentioning your youth. How old are you? And how old are the other fallen angels?" Xanji asked.

"Well, I turn 128 in a few months. So, I suppose I'm quite old by human standards." She thought.

"Ancient." Xanji clarified.

Raynare scowled as the human managed to crack a small smile, even though they were both quickly replaced.

"But most other fallen angels are older, much older." Raynare said. "By centuries, or even millennia. The only reason I'm so young is because I'm one of the few to have been born a fallen angel. At least 9 out of 10 fallen angels were once angels, most who fell during the war."

"That must have been rough." Xanji commented. He could only imagine being an angel, fighting for heaven, and then falling, and being shunned by your once allies.

"Yeah, the stories I've heard have all been horrible." Raynare nodded and agreed.

But she quickly resumed her story. "Anyways, we arrived in Kuoh a few days later. My task was to observe you, and watch out for any signs of you potentially going berserk due to your sacred gear. But I suppose someone got a little impatient, because last week I received a message through Dohnaseek that you were deemed a threat, and that I was to kill you."

"And yet you didn't." Xanji said.

Raynare sighed. "Yes, I've only been on a handful of missions before, and none of them involved killing. So, I was a bit hesitant, but planned to follow through with the order anyways."

The fallen angel then smiled painfully. "But like I said, I just didn't have the heart to go through with in the end."

"Which is apparently a good thing, since they seemed to have lied to you." Xanji commented.

Raynare scowled. "That's right. I think they've gone rogue." Her eyes quickly widened in realization. "Wait, I have to go inform Azazel-sama immediately! They're planning something against him!"

The fallen angel stood up quickly, but soon stumbled as her stomach growled loudly.

Raynare's cheeks tinged red, but she tried to stand straight nonetheless. But Xanji stopped her.

"It looks like you're starving, and you're still tired from yesterday. You don't have enough energy to go anywhere."

"Well, I guess I could use some food…" Raynare admitted. "But, I still have to get to Azazel-sama as fast as possible."

"You should probably go tomorrow." Xanji advised. "Go somewhere to eat and rest, then head out."

"Yeah, about that…" Raynare trailed off. "You see, I was staying with the other fallen angels before this, and since I disobeyed orders and helped kill Dohnaseek, I'm pretty sure I can't go back to them. I don't have anywhere to go."

An uncomfortable silence surrounded them. She didn't need to ask it, Xanji already knew what her request would be.

In most cases, he would say no. She was a fallen angel after all. While Xanji had no issues with fallen angels specifically, and he didn't necessarily dislike Raynare, even if he now didn't know too much about her, he didn't want to be harboring anyone that could attract attention to him.

Unfortunately, he was a devil now. So he'd already failed in that aspect.

"You can stay for the night if you need to." Xanji said, to Raynare's great relief.

...

**And that's the entirety of the second chapter.**

**Two things happen here, a fight with Dohnaseek, and a talk with Rias and Raynare.**

**I think I did well executing the fight, but I'd like to know what you all think. If there's something you think needs improving in general, say it in a review.**

**Now, admittedly, I started in a different path with the talk with Rias, where Xanji didn't become a devil at all (he would have become one later). But, I decided to go with this route instead. It slightly alters how the next few chapters while go, but overall the main story remains the same. Except for the relationship between Xanji and Rias, which will be a bit shakier.**

**If you're wondering how Xanji has some knowledge on the supernatural world, or why Raynare was in his home at all, both will be revealed in the future. One much sooner than the other.**

**Again, I hope to get the next chapter out in a week or less.**


	3. Alone

About half an hour after Rias had left Xanji and Raynare had had their talk, the human turned devil and the fallen angel were sitting on opposite sides of the couch.

Raynare was digging into a sandwich that Xanji had quickly made for her. It was pretty basic, with a few thin slices of roast beef and cheese, but she didn't mind. It tasted pretty good, and she honestly just needed some energy. However, she wasn't the only one.

The fallen angel looked over to her left, seeing Xanji sitting a few feet away from her. Since the couch was quite small, there was still only a small distance between them.

Technically, since he'd been turned into a devil, voluntarily or not, they were enemies in the eyes of the supernatural. Although, the fallen angel didn't have many better options. Dohnaseek's group was almost definitely looking for her. It was too obvious for her to just find some abandoned building and rest there. She would be easily found.

Since they most likely thought Xanji was dead, his own home would probably be the last place they'd look.

But surprisingly, that wasn't Raynare biggest problem right now. No, it was something else.

'This is so awkward…' The fallen angel thought to herself amidst the silence. The only sounds were those of them chewing.

Unfortunately, due to his circumstances, Xanji didn't have a tv, thus the only entertainment to be had was either through one's own thoughts or by talking with someone else.

But as it was, there was no conversation being had. After they spoke about what happened the day before, Xanji said he was making sandwiches, and she agreed to have one. And after handing her said sandwich, they haven't said a word to each other.

Although, Raynare wasn't surprised by this fact. No, it made sense. She pretended to be someone else while luring him into a trap to take his life. And while she was sure he had mostly (?) forgiven her, it still happened.

'God, I just want this to end.' Raynare whined to herself. She was lucky to have this sandwich, because if she didn't, she would have no distraction against this painfully awkward silence.

The fallen angel looked back over at Xanji, and couldn't help but feel silly for feeling this way as Xanji seemed to be eating his food, unaware of the awkwardness around them.

'I still can't believe it. A human fighting off a fallen angel with their bare hands. And the way he ended it…' She trailed off, remembering the wild look Xanji had on his face when he jumped Dohnaseek.

Embarrassingly, the fallen angel found it slightly arousing. She had fantasized about being dominates before, and that look reminded her of that.

Raynare slapped herself as she tried to remove the atomic blush on her face. 'Where the hell did that come from?' She wondered.

As the fallen angel stayed still, trying to calm herself down, she quickly became aware of the awkwardness that was now coming back.

She was going to put an end to this.

"So…" She started hesitantly. When Xanji tilted his head to look at her, she realized she didn't actually have anything to say.

"How'd you get so strong?" The fallen angel finally asked, after a period of silence. "I mean, you're only 17, right?" Xanji gave a nod of confirmation.

Xanji shuffled around for a few seconds, trying to find a comfortable answer.

"I… was trained." He said, tensely. "To fight supernatural creatures." He clarified.

"I've fought werewolves before, and a vampire once. But I never actually fought a fallen angel before yesterday."

That was interesting. "Were you an exorcist?" Raynare wondered. It would make a lot of sense if he was, now that she thought of it.

"No." Was Xanji's simple response. Before Raynare could ask another question, Xanji asked one of his own.

"How strong are fallen angels, on average?" He asked. "You're over a century old, and Dohnaseek is apparently much, much older. Shouldn't you both be much stronger?"

Raynare winced at the question. "Well… to be fair, Dohnaseek and his group were kind of on the weaker side of fallen angels. But even then, fallen angels don't really train. They were all created with the abilities that they have, so having to train wasn't necessary for them."

"Obviously it should be." Was Xanji's response. Raynare winced again. Although she did agree. Most fallen angels should train, herself included.

"I have another question though." Xanji brought up. "It was something I've been wondering for a bit, but didn't bring up until now."

"What is it?" Raynare asked.

"I thought all three factions were enemies. How come you were here at the same time as the other one?"

The fallen angel knew he was referring to the Gremory heiress, and didn't say anything about the fact he didn't call her by name.

"Well, she actually did try and kill me when she first appeared." Raynare admitted.

"Seriously?" Xanji said a raised eyebrow. He was less surprised by that, and more surprised by the fact that the devil stopped.

"Yeah, I barely managed to convince her not to blast me into oblivion."

(Flashback)

"Your wish will be granted?" She read, momentarily confused. But her eyes quickly widened, and she gasped. It didn't take her long to figure out what this flyer meant.

She was even more surprised when a bright crimson glow appeared, and flooded the area.

Raynare covered her eyes with her arm, shielding them from the light. However, it only lasted a few seconds.

After it was gone, Raynare looked in the direction the crimson glow had originated, and was shocked, and terrified.

It was a girl who seemed maybe a bit older than Xanji, and wore a similar uniform to the one he had on the day they met.

But it was her most striking feature that put the fallen angel on edge.

It was her long, crimson red hair.

Raynare might have been younger than most other fallen angels, but she wasn't an idiot. She knew what that hair meant.

It was the symbol of a member of the Gremory Family, a noble family in devil society. And this girl was undoubtedly a high class devil.

The girl looked around, before her eyes landed on her. Or, it seemed she was more focused on the human she was holding.

She rapidly approached them, kneeling down to look Xanji over. The summoned devil ran her hands over the human's body, checking his injuries.

Her brows furrowed when she spotted the gaping hole in Xanji's leg.

And then she fixed her attention onto Raynare.

Raynare stiffened at the devil's gaze.

"You must be one of the fallen angels targeting him. My name is Rias Gremory." The devil introduced herself.

"Gremory…" She was right. She was fucked.

"I can't help but wonder what an assassin such as yourself would be doing remaining here. Although I suppose it doesn't matter too much."

Rias raised her hand, and it soon started crackling with magical energy. Raynare's eyes widened.

"Hey, hold on! We can talk about this!" The fallen angel said panickedly.

"There is nothing to speak of. I don't care for you or your name. And I don't have time for it. After dealing with you, I have to heal that boy."

Raynare looked down at Xanji, worry spreading across her face. "If you're going to heal him, do it now! I think he's seriously going to die!"

The genuine fear and worry in the fallen angel's voice made Rias falter for a moment, before she steeled herself.

"Do you think I'd fall for your tricks? I am far beyond your games, fallen one." The power in Rias's hand grew, and she prepared to throw a blast at Raynare.

"I'm being serious! And it wasn't even me! It was him!" Raynare pointed over at Dohnaseek's body, but panicked when she saw that nothing was there.

'What? How is that possible! He should have already been dead or close! Where did he go?'

"Are you done with your lies?" Rias asked, unamused.

Raynare turned back, and saw that Rias's hand was caked in demonic energy.

"Hey! If you shoot something like that then Xanji will die too!" Raynare exclaimed.

The power in Rias's hand lessened considerably after hearing this. The fallen angel was right. Not only that, but he'd probably be blasted into nothing.

"Remove yourself from him. You're only wasting time!" Rias said sternly. Her aura was still flared.

However, before anything could be said, something miraculous happened.

Xanji stood up.

"X-Xanji?" Raynare said in shock. He was just unconscious! How could he be moving?

"What are you…" Rias muttered in similar surprise. However, what enhanced the shock was when Xanji sloppily entered a fighting stance, facing the devil.

Not only that, but his body started emitting a deep red aura. It was coming off of body like smoke, and it seemed especially powerful are his hands and feet. The most intimidating part was Xanji's uncovered eye, which was emitting a green glow.

"H-hey! Stop it!" Rias said suddenly, completely losing her aura. Her demeanor changed entirely, and she now seemed panicked and worried.

"Eh?" Raynare couldn't help but let out a sound of confusion.

"You're already practically dead from exhaustion, not to mention your leg! Don't do that!" Rias said, waving her hands around.

'What the fuck?' The fallen angel wondered.

"L-look! I'll… ugh… I'll leave the stupid crow alone okay! Just stand down! That's what you want right?" Rias asked desperately.

Surely enough, Xanji's body slowly started lowering it's guard. Eventually, he lied back down, the aura having vanished.

Rias let out a relieved sigh, before turning to Raynare with a grimace.

"Great, I guess you can go off now."

(Flashback end)

"Is that seriously what happened?" Xanji asked, suspiciously.

"Yeah, it is. I know it sounds shocking, but it's what happened. After that, I managed to convince her to let me stay as well."

"I don't remember doing that." Xanji stated. 'Although, I think I know what it was.'

"I'm pretty sure you were unconscious." Raynare said.

"I also find that drastic change in her personality."

"Trust me, it shocked me too." Raynare assured. "It was definitely confusing, but oddly cute. She seemed genuinely worried for you." She commented to herself.

Xanji rolled his eyes and scoffed. "And yet she still decided to turn me into a devil."

Raynare shrugged. "Well, she did try and heal you normally at first."

Xanji's eye widened. "What?" He asked, figuring he heard her incorrectly.

"Yeah, although, you were too far gone at that point. And standing back up obviously didn't help. So she said the only way was to turn you into a devil." Raynare explained.

The top half of Xanji's face was covered by the shadow of his bangs as he thought about what Raynare had just said.

"... You know… I wasn't kidding." Xanji finally said.

"Huh?" Raynare asked, confused.

Xanji just let out a deep sigh. He scratched the top of his head. "You know what? Whatever. I'm going for a walk. Don't fuck the place up any more than it already is while I'm gone." He said as he left for the door. Before he left, he grabbed a black jacket.

…

'A devil. I'm a goddamn devil.' Xanji thought irritably as he walked through a park on the southside of Kuoh Town. He had come a long way from his home, which was on the north side.

'Man, I didn't fucking want anything to do with this shit. Not after what happened before.' He thought, before a painful memory resurfaced.

"Tch." Xanji clicked his teeth as he slapped himself in the head. 'That's past shit. I shouldn't be worrying about it.' He then gained a deep frown. 'But I just can't stop. Everything got worse from that point onwards. Why did I have to be born with this thing?' Xanji looked at his left hand, before glaring at it. This thing is the reason for all of this.

It didn't matter where he was, or what he wanted. Someone would just come along and try to use him.

'And just what the hell was Raynare talking about?' He thought back to the earlier conversation he had with the fallen angel. 'I already regret letting her stay. I should have just kicked her out after she told me what I wanted to know…'

His mind flashed back to him kicking Rias out of his house, and then to Raynare's story.

'Did she lie?' He wondered. 'No, that wouldn't make sense. She wouldn't gain anything from that.'

'Does she actually care?' Xanji stopped walking as asked himself that question. Did he react to soon? If Raynare told him the truth, should he give them a chance?

Xanji looked up at the sky as he came up with an answer.

"If she cared, she wouldn't have turned me into her servant."

So, he started walking once more, not really thinking about anything. He wasn't paying much attention to his surroundings.

So, it didn't take long for him to bump into someone.

"Aaah!" The person he crashes into let out a faint cry as they onto the ground.

'Hm?' Xanji thought as he glanced down to see who he'd walked into.

It was clearly a young girl, he assumed a bit younger than him, but he wasn't sure. The next thing he noticed was that she seemed to be dressed in a nun outfit. Which was an odd thing to see in this town.

"Owie…" The girl whined painfully as rubbed her back. "That hurt…"

"Sorry." Xanji said, finally deciding to actually do something. He leaned down, and offered his hand. "I was on the moon there. I wasn't paying any attention. Are you alright?"

"Huh?" The girl looked up at him, just in time for a small gust of wind to come by and blow the veil she was wearing off of her face, revealing her face and her long blonde hair.

She saw Xanji offering his hand, and her cheeks tinted a slight pink in embarrassment. "Oh, thank you!" She said, quickly grasping his hand and pulling herself upwards.

"Sorry again for that." Xanji repeated, reaching for her veil, and giving it back to her. "That was my fault. I hope you weren't hurt much."

The girl took her veil gratefully. "Oh no, not at all. You don't have to apologize, I'm fine!" She told him.

Xanji raised an eyebrow. "Well okay. I'll be off now." He waved, before placing his hands in his pockets.

He started to walk away, but stopped when he felt someone tug at his sleeve. He turned around, and saw the girl staring up at him nervously.

"Um, I'm very sorry… but you see… I'm kind of lost." She admitted shyly. "I'm new here, so I was wondering if you could give me directions."

Xanji sighed. "Where do you need to go?" He asked. At his question, the girl seemed delighted. "Oh thank you! I just need help finding the local church."

Xanji almost sweatdropped. 'T-the church? But… that's on the complete other side of town… how did she end up here?' He wondered.

"Well, you just need to go north.. You're on the complete other side of town right now." He told her. The girl seemed a tad embarrassed, but nodded in thanks.

She turned around and walked off towards her destination. Only she didn't.

'She's walking in the wrong direction… how is that possible!?' Xanji shouted in his mind.

"Hey, excuse me! You're going the wrong way!" Xanji called out to her. The girl stopped walking and turned to him. "Eh? Really? Sorry! Thanks for telling me."

So she turned and walked off again, this time in the right direction. Only she didn't. Again.

'Is… is she handicapped? No, I shouldn't think like that. But how!?' Xanji wondered incredulously.

"Oi! You're going in the wrong direction again!" Xanji called out, again. The girl stopped again, but this time she fell to her knees.

"Auuuuuuu! Why does this keep happening to me? I can't ever do anything right!" She whined. Though he didn't see it, tears were starting to form in the corner of her eyes.

Xanji was watching the nun's actions from a few meters away with an odd look.

Eventually he huffed, and gained a small smile. He walked up to the girl, and placed a hand on her shoulder.

She turned her head to look at him, and at that moment, even if he didn't realize, he thought she looked kind of cute.

"Listen, I don't know how you managed to find yourself so far away from where you wanted to go, but I guess I can guide you there. If you'd like that, of course." He offered.

The blonde girl's eyes widened. "Y-yes! I'd like that. Please help me!" She requested.

…

"So, what's your name?" Xanji asked the girl as they walked next to each other.

"Oh! My name is Asia! Asia Argento." The blonde introduced herself with a kind smile.

"Well, I'm Xanji Myoto." Xanji introduced himself in return. "Guessing from your clothing, you're a nun, right?" He asked.

Asia nodded. "I am. I was appointed to the local church here. That's why I'm here." She explained.

'The church? I thought that place was completely abandoned.' Xanji thought. 'Well, obviously not if a nun was assigned there.'

"Is that so? I didn't know the church was still used. You must have come a long way to come here." Xanji said.

Asia nodded again. "Oh yes. I did come incredibly far. But it's worth it to serve our Lord again."

Xanji didn't miss the 'again' that she added, knowing she most likely didn't mean to say that.

"But I would have never even found my way if it wasn't for you. God must be looking out for me if he let me meet someone as kind as you." Asia said happily.

'First I've heard that.' Xanji said in his head.

Before they could continue their conversation, they heard a young child crying in the distance.

Xanji was planning on ignoring it, but Asia quickly gained a worried expression, before running off in the boy's direction. So, he slowly followed behind her.

When they got closer, they could see that the child was a boy, and had a scrape on his knee.

Asia kneeled down next to him. "Now now, a strong young boy like you shouldn't be crying over a small scrape like this." The blonde nun smiled gently as she brought her hands up and hovered them over the boy's injured knee.

Her hands started emitting a soft green glow, as a pair of silver rings appeared on her fingers. The scrape was quickly healed.

"See? All better now." Asia said kindly as the boy stopped crying. He looked up at Asia and blinked away the remaining tears before smiling brightly.

"Takeo? Takeo, where are you?" A female voice called out from a distance.

"Mommy! Mommy! Over here!" The boy responded, springing up and running towards his mother. He grasped her leg with his hands.

"Mommy! That lady over there helped me!" The kid said cheerily as his mother looked at Asia with narrowed eyes.

"Come on Takeo, I told you not to talk to strange people." She said as she led her child away.

Asia hid it well, but Xanji could see she was hurt by the woman's behaviour.

"Thank you Onee-san!" The boy turned his head and waved at Asia. This managed to make the blonde nun smile.

Asia stood up and faced Xanji with a smile. "You must be surprised." She said, referring to her rings.

But to her shock, Xanji grasped her hands, and studied the rings on her fingers. "This is… a sacred gear, correct?"

Asia seemed surprised by Xanji's words. "You… you know of them?" Xanji nodded and let go of her hands. They started walking again.

"Do you have one too?" Asia asked. Xanji's face darkened slightly, but he turned it away from the nun.

"I… do." He hesitantly admitted. Asia's face brightened, and she excitedly grabbed Xanji's hand.

"Oh! You too have been blessed by our lord!" She said happily. Xanji's uncovered eye widened.

"Blessing? Is that how you see it? A blessing?" He asked, trying not to turn angry.

Asia nodded. "Of course! We've both been gifted by God to do great things!"

Xanji's face tightened as he tried not to lash out. It's not like she knew.

"Great things?" Xanji asked. "Honestly, these things are just a curse." He said. "Nothing but a curse." He looked forward, no longer facing the nun.

Asia gasped, and seemed incredibly saddened. "A curse? No… it really truly is… a blessing." It sounded more like she was trying to convince herself then Xanji.

"Looks like we're here." Xanji said, both of them looking up. The old church sat on a small hill in front of them.

"Oh my! We're really here!" Asia said, her recent sadness disappeared as she started gushing over the church.

As she did so, Xanji looked down at his hands, and noticed they were shaking. He looked up at the holy building.

'This place is meant to be abandoned… so why do I feel only death from it?'

"Why don't you come inside for tea? I'd love to thank you properly." Asia said, snapping him out of his daze.

Xanji winced. "Sorry, I actually have errands to run. I can't spare any more time today. Sorry." He apologized. Although, this was merely an excuse.

Asia looked crestfallen, but tried to hide. Unfortunately, she couldn't hide it nearly as well as before.

"Oh, that's too bad… Would you be able to come when you have free time?" The nun asked hopefully.

"...Sure. Next time I'm free, I'll come for a visit." Xanji said, even if he wasn't sure if he meant it or not.

"Then I'm glad. I'll see you another day!" Asia said cheerfully as she began walking up the stairs leading to the church.

"Yeah…" Xanji responded, rather unenthusiastically.

He turned to walk away when he heard a faint buzz, and something vibrating in his right pant pocket.

Xanji reached into his pocket, and pulled out a gray smartphone.

"Wait, I don't have a phone." Xanji said, confused. He turned it on, only to see he was receiving a call.

Simply out of pure curiosity, Xanji answered the call.

Come meet me at the ORC club building on school campus. We need to talk. Rias' voice said through the phone, before hanging up.

This raised many questions in Xanji's head, and he really wasn't keen on meeting up with Rias again, so he was planning on just going home.

"She seemed genuinely worried for you."

"Well, she did try and heal you normally at first."

Xanji frowned as he looked down.

"... I guess I might as well."

…

"Damnit Rias. You could have fucking told me where this building was!" Xanji cried angrily.

He was currently on Kuoh Academy grounds, after jumping over the wall to get inside, since it was a Saturday, and school was closed.

Xanji ran around campus like a headless chicken, trying to figure out where this 'ORC club building' was supposed to be.

'What the hell does ORC even stand for anyways?' Xanji pondered curiously, before immediately returning to anger.

Eventually, Xanji came across an old decrepit building that looked like it would fall over at any moment. It seemed like something out of a shitty horror movie.

"That seems like something a devil would use as a clubroom." Xanji thought aloud.

So, he walked up to the entrance and opened the door, expecting to run into Rias or someone else. However, nobody was there. Instead, there was only a dark hallway.

"Yeah, totally not about to get murdered." Xanji said dryly before walking inside. He was moving along the hallway when he came across a staircase.

"Sure, why not."

Xanji walked up the staircase, and came into another hallway. But at the end of this one, was a large door.

Wordlessly, Xanji walked towards the door, and slowly opened it. He peeked his head inside the room, and saw a few couches with a table in the middle.

At the end of the room, Rias was sitting at a desk, writing on some papers.

Xanji stepped inside slowly, before closing the door. The sound of the door shutting alerted Rias to his presence.

"Oh, Xanji, you're finally here. You took longer than I was expecting." The devil heiress said.

Xanji immediately looked irritated. "Well, excuse me. I couldn't exactly come here as fast I would've wanted to, considering I didn't know where your clubroom was or what it looked like."

Rias looked surprised. "Wait, you really didn't know of this place?" She asked.

"No. I only came here by luck. I just some shitty old building and assumed that's probably what you were into."

Rias ignored the jab at her tastes, and spoke again. "Well, if you really didn't know how to find this place, why didn't you just call me for directions? I would have gladly helped you."

"Oh yeah, that. Did you sneak a phone in my pocket?" Xanji asked. Rias nodded. "Why!?"

"Because I need some way of contacting you. Devils can speak to each other through magic circles, but I can't exactly perform magic in public." Rias said.

"Well I don't fucking know how phones work!" Xanji exclaimed.

"Seriously?" Rias asked. "Yes! I've never had one before. How exactly would I know how to use one?" Xanji asked.

Rias sighed. "Alright. This is my fault. I should have taken your issues into account."

Xanji's eye twitched. "Issues?"

"But we're getting off topic here. I know I said I was going to give you some space, but you did something very foolish earlier." Rias said seriously.

"And what was that?" Xanji asked, confused.

"Well, not only did you interact with a nun, but you almost stepped into a church. You should know better than that. Surely your devil instincts told you something was wrong?"

"Yeah. That's why I didn't go in, stupid." Xanji rolled his eyes.

"Xanji, this is serious. You're lucky the angels were forgiving this time. Those few actions could be enough to respark a war!" Rias exclaimed.

"If literally helping someone with directions is enough to spark a war than the supernatural has way bigger issues to deal with." Xanji retorted.

"That might be true, but that isn't what we're talking about right now." Rias stated. "There isn't supposed to be any contact between our side and theirs. I'm sorry, but any friendship is impossible."

"Okay. You know what? That's fine. All the higher ups have giant poles up there asses. I get it. But you're acting like I'm in a romantic relationship with her or something. I met her once, helped her, and left before getting too close to the church. Nothing happened." Xanji said.

Rias listened to what he said, before sighing deeply. "Alright, I suppose you're not incorrect."

The devil heiress stood up. "I'm sorry Xanji. I was just worried. You were seriously close to getting injured. You might know about the supernatural, but you don't know everything."

Rias smiled at Xanji.

"I just want to make sure you don't do anything that ends up getting you hurt."

Xanji's eye widened. 'Worried?' He thought. But he quickly shook his head.

He cleared his throat and turned around. "Fine fine. I'll try to stay out of trouble. Okay?"

"That's all I'm asking." Rias kept her smile.

Xanji quickly left.

…

"Hm. What should I eat today?" Xanji wondered to himself as he walked home. "I don't have much to work with, but I don't have any money on me…"

"I can't just eat a cup of ramen. Can I make more sandwiches? Wait, I have to feed two tonight… Ah, I'm sure I can throw something together. Worse case I won't eat another night…"

Xanji quickly approached his house. He placed his hand on the doorknob and went to twist it, but froze before pushing the door open.

He stood outside his house, completely stiff. 'Wha… what the hell is this?' He thought. Xanji was feeling a presence inside his house. One that was full of death. It was similar to what he felt near the church, only toned down.

There was someone inside his house. Someone that wasn't Raynare.

Xanji slowly opened his door, as quietly as he could. He took a step inside his house, and initially, saw nothing. So he fully entered his home, and gently close the door, without turning around.

He slightly peered his head around the corner of the wall, and saw his small living room in an absolute mess. It looked to be absolutely ransacked. And on top that off, there were obvious signs of a fight. There were large slash marks on his walls, floor, and the back of his couch. On top of that, there were a few drops of blood scattered around the floor.

Xanji focused on the head of white hair appeared over the back of his couch. Someone was sitting on his couch. The intruder was humming happily.

"Hmmhmmhmmhmm, shitty devils, shitty devils, gonna kill me a shitty devil~" It was clearly a male by the tone of his voice, even if it was rather high for a men.

'Well, isn't that incriminating.' Xanji commented to himself.

He lunged towards the person on his couch with all his strength. Xanji aimed a punch at their head, and sent his fist forwards.

Right before it would land, however, the intruder twisted around, avoiding the punch, and quickly raised a gun to Xanji's face.

"BAM!" The gun made a loud noise the intruder pulled the trigger.

Xanji watched with a wide eye as the bullet raced past his head. He tilted his neck right before the gun had gone off.

Xanji and the intruder stayed in their positions for a few moments, studying each other.

The intruder looked different than him, but had similar features in his white hair and red eyes. Xanji also noticed his clothing, which consisted of a priest outfit.

Xanji's eye widened again. 'The church?' He quickly shot his right fist at the intruder, who placed his arms up to guard. He blocked it, but the intruder was still knocked away a few meters.

The intruder shrugged off the attack and grinned widely.

"My oh my! This little devil isn't so bad! I'm getting excited~ After hearing you had Lady Raynare, I had hoped you wouldn't be a weakling~ Chopping you up will be fun!" He exclaimed.

"Who are you?" Xanji asked seriously, maintaining his guard. The intruder kept his grin. "Oh~ You want to know? I was going to tell you later anyways, seeing as you asked so seriously, I suppose I can tell you now~" He said, before pulling out a sword handle.

He pressed a button, and a blade of white light popped out of the handle.

"Freed Sellzen's the name, and killing shitty devils' the game! You see, I work for a devil purging organization. Yup, that's right~ I'm a priest. No, I'm an exorcist. As an exorcist, cutting shitty devils like you is my job and purpose!" Freed introduced himself.

"Why are you in my house?" Xanji asked. "Surely, coming specifically to kill me would be a waste of time?"

Freed shook his head. "No no no, not at all my friend! You see, not only did you gravely injure Dohnaseek, making you a priority target, but you had a serious traitor with you~ That's right! Lady Raynare is a big ol traitor~"

Xanji glared at him. "Dohnaseek's alive!?" He snarled. Freed smiled widely. "But of course! I have to admit, it was very close, what with the state he was in~ But the other fallen angels came to drag him away~ He was on the verge of death before a special guest came to heal him right back up~"

Xanji was grinding his teeth. This was not good. "Raynare! Where is she! Where did you take her!?" He roared.

Freed tilted his head and pointed to himself. "Me? Little old me? I didn't do a thing to that fallen skank! Although I would have loved to, my bosses made me stay here to finish you while they brought her back to base and stole all the fun for themselves!" Freed started in a singsong voice, before it turned more hateful and violent.

However, the exorcist sighed, and quickly regained his crazy enthusiasm. "But it's all okay~ Chopping up a devil like you will be so much fun! Just don't make it boring, or I'll chop you into pieces!"

And with that, Freed lunged.

The exorcist swung his sword in a sideways arc, and Xanji leaned back to avoid it. The devil kicked upwards, aiming for Freed's chin. Freed quickly took a step back, narrowly dodging the foot.

Freed pointed his gun at Xanji, and quickly fired. But Xanji ducked as soon as he saw the exorcist's finger on the trigger, the bullets firing above him. Xanji charged, delivering a fast uppercut.

Freed grunted in pain, before leaping towards Xanji again. He started slashing his light sword wildly at high speeds.

Xanji was doing everything in his power to evade all of the sword swipes. Ducking, bobbing and weaving. He could hear the air swishing as the sword flew past him.

"Damnit! Will you stay still!?" Freed demanded, before swinging his sword up, before bringing it down.

Before the sword could complete its arc, Xanji kicked the exorcist's left leg, hard. Freed lost balance, making him stop his attack. But as Xanji aimed a punch at his face, he aimed his gun at Xanji's face, fully prepared to take the blow in exchange for one of his own.

Xanji stopped his attack, and instead swung his arm at Freed's, knocking it to the side. With the exorcist open, Xanji sent a punch his left arm towards Freed's face. Freed grinned savagely as he swung his sword up and towards Xanji's left arm.

SWOOSH*

Freed grit his teeth as he glared at Xanji, who was standing a few meters away from him. The devil had jumped away at the last moment, sensing the incoming attack.

"You shitty little fucker! Stop dodging everything! It's no fun when I can't chop you up!"

'Didn't you want this to be fun? How is it meant to be fun if you hate me fighting back?' Xanji wondered to himself. 'Ah, whatever. Anyways, this is going nowhere. We're just dodging each other's attacks with no clear outcome. I'm confident in my stamina, but I need to wrap this up quickly and find out where the others are hiding.'

Xanji moved his head to the side as a bullet sped past it. He continuously dodged a hailstorm of bullets as Freed kept shooting as fast as he could. The exorcist had a hateful look on his face.

"Just! Die! Damn! YOU!" Freed raged as his bullets kept failing to hit their target.

'Shouldn't that thing be out of ammo by now?' Xanji questioned to himself as avoiding another bullet. Suddenly, he got an idea.

As another bullet raced towards him, Xanji jumped to the side, flipping, and landed behind his couch. He was using it as a shield.

"Huh? Are you trying to hide? That's no good! You think that silly couch will protect you~? I'll fucking kill-" Freed paused when he saw a projectile flying towards him.

He slashed it with his sword, the object falling to the ground. Freed looked down, and his eyes widened when he saw what it was.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA! A pillow? You threw a pillow at me!? Is that what this is? You want to have a pillow fight? Well too bad devil sc-"

Freed looked up while he was talking, and stopped when he saw Xanji in the air, rapidly approaching. He had lunged the moment the exorcist had looked down.

'A distraction?' Freed thought. 'It doesn't matter! His attacks are slow!' He gripped his gun tightly. 'I'll just bring my gun up and-?'

Like a red blur, Xanji's fist cemented itself into the exorcist's face with a speed Freed had never seen before.

Freed was sent flying into the wall, and Xanji rushed the exorcist, ready to fully seize this chance.

"Aaaaaaaah!"

When a startled scream stopped him in his tracks. Xanji, along with Freed, turned their heads in the direction the scream came from.

And standing there, in the doorway to his bedroom staring at him and Freed with a terrified look, was Asia Argento.

"Asia?" Xanji asked aloud.

"X...Xanji? Wha... what are you doing here?" Asia asked, scared and nervous.

"I live here." Xanji said dryly.

"But, why are you and father Freed fighting?" The blonde nun asked. Freed looked between the two of them. "Wait a minute… do you two know each other?" The exorcist questioned.

But when Freed took a look at Asia's terrified expression, he sighed. "Right, your a newbie. Look sweetheart, this is our job. This is what we do. We purge the filth known as devils! Devils like this one!" The exorcist pointed at Xanji with his sword.

Asia turned to Xanji, her face pale. "A devil? No, that can't be right, you can't be a devil… right? You help me… Xanji, tell him it isn't true!"

But Xanji only adopted a sour expression. "No, unfortunately, he's right. Although I haven't been one for long, I am a devil. Sorry Asia."

Asia started trembling. "Is… is that why you didn't want to come into the church with me?" She asked weakly. When Xanji nodded, she fell to her knees.

Freed started laughing hysterically. "Wow, would you look at that? The little nun girl is all sad! You seriously thought you could have a friendship? This man is a devil! Contact with the otherside is strictly forbidden!" He exclaimed.

"Technically, we're contacting right now." Xanji pointed out. A vein popped in Freed's forehead. "In the exception of slaughtering them!" He said through gritted teeth.

The exorcist quickly regained a smile. "Speaking of which… DIE!" He lunged towards Xanji with a manic grin.

Xanji raised his arms, and prepared himself. However, both of them faltered when a third person joined the fray.

"Stop!" Asia said as she stood in front Xanji, her arms spread.

"Huh?" Both Xanji and Freed asked at the same time.

"Xanji may be a devil… but that doesn't mean you have to kill him!" Asia shouted. "I know he has good in him! He helped me when I needed it!"

Freed snarled. "You stupid bitch! Get out of my way! Since you were kicked out of the church, I knew you were dumb, but your really fucking stupid aren't you! This guy is a devil! And that's all there is to it! That's the only reason we need to kill him!"

Asia shook her head. "No! That isn't true! The Lord preaches forgiveness above all else! And I know he has good in him. There's good in everyone, even devils!" She said determinedly.

"No there isn't! IDIOT!" Freed shouted, before slicing down at the nun. She squealed in terror. Fortunately, she wasn't injured, but her clothes were cut open, revealing her undergarments.

UNfortunately, that seemed to be exactly what Freed was going for.

He grabbed Asia, and threw her towards a wall. Freed took his sword, and used it to pin Asia to said wall, before grabbing her chin roughly.

"Our superiors told me that you're very important, therefore I can't hurt you! But right now, your attitude pisses me off so much that I don't give a shit!" Freed shouted at her.

"P-please! Don't hurt me!" Asia was shaking in fear. She started crying. "Please! I beg you!" She wailed in terror.

"Good in everyone? Even devils? You're a really skanky nun? A hardworking devil-killing extraordinaire like myself needs to relieve some stress every once and awhile, you know! So is it so wrong for me to use a slutty devil-loving nun like yourself to get myself off? Huh? IS IT!?"

"Yeah. It is."

Suddenly, Freed felt a fist crashing into his face with unbelievable power, sending him flying through another wall, and right into another room.

"X... Xanji?" Asia mumbled as the sword keeping her pinned to the wall was removed, and tossed aside, making her fall to her knees.

The nun felt an incredible warmness fall over her. She looked up, and saw a black jacket on her. Asia stared at Xanji. His jacket was off, and the shirt he was wearing underneath was visible. He was facing away from her, in Freed's direction.

"You stood up for what you thought was right. Even in the face of someone that could have killed you." Xanji looked down at Asia. "You're strong, Asia. Really strong. Don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise."

Asia felt her face grow warm, and she gripped Xanji's jacket. Tears started to flow again. "T-thank you…"

"Fuck fuck fuck!" Freed snarled as he stomped back into the room through the hole his body had created right before. He had his right hand on his cheek, nursing the bruise that was already forming. The other hand, the one holding the gun, was trembling.

"That's it! I was just trying to have a fun time! But you know what? I'm done with that! I'm seriously going to kill you now, you hear me? I'm going to kill you!" Freed whipped his gun towards Xanji, and prepared to fire.

Suddenly, a bright crimson glow enveloped the area, and a blast of crimson colored energy was hurled towards the exorcist, forcing him to jump away.

"What the fuck!?" Freed exclaimed. A large magic circle appeared on the ground, and out stepped Rias Gremory herself, along with three people Xanji had never seen before.

A girl with long black hair, a very short girl with white hair, and a boy with blonde hair. They were all wearing the Kuoh student uniform, and the boy was wielding a sword.

"What the?" Xanji asked aloud. "Who the hell are you?" 'And why are you wearing a school uniform on a Saturday?'

"Xanji." Rias said. "I felt you were in danger, so I came with the rest of my peerage." She said, before turning to Freed with an expression of distaste.

"I fear your situation is worse than I expected. To be attacked by a stray exorcist…"

"Oi! Who the fuck are you? You think you can just come here and interrupt me while I'm doing my job!?" Freed raved.

Rias narrowed her eyes at the exorcist, but smiled haughtily. "My name is Rias Gremory from the Gremory clan of devils." She introduced herself to him.

"I sensed my servant was being attacked, so I gathered my other servants to come here. Although, I suppose I didn't need everyone for a single stray like you."

Freed's eyes widened at her words. He turned to Asia with a furious scowl. "You… you! You were supposed to put up a barrier you stupid bitch!" He roared, before lunging at Asia with his gun cocked.

"Hey."

Xanji stepped in front of the nun, slapping the gun out of Freed's hand. And once again, it was like a red blur as Xanji's fist was buried in Freed's gut, knocking him to the floor.

The exorcist coughed a couple times as he tried to stand up.

"Yeah, go ahead and get back up." He heard Xanji's voice, and looked up to see the devil's face. And he looked furious.

"You motherfucker." Xanji scowled. Freed managed to stand up, but he was shaking.

The exorcist was grinding his teeth. Here he was, surrounded by shitty devils, and without either of his weapons.

Typically, a situation like this called for a tactical retreat. But when Freed looked at Xanji, he snarled.

"Fuck running away! All I want is to kill YOU!" The exorcist roared before he lunged at Xanji, prepared to kill him by any means necessary. Blinded by rage.

When Freed was close enough to attack, he raised his arms, but froze when he saw a fist in front of his face.

"!?"

CRACK!*

Freed's nose had been broken.

But the exorcist didn't have time to scream as a flurry of blows came for him from every direction.

"Hey Chief, this is the new guy?" The blonde boy asked Rias as they watched Xanji pummel Freed. Rias nodded. "Not bad, for a newbie." He admitted.

Freed was breathing hard as he got knocked back once again. "God… damnit… if… only… I had my WEAPONS!" He roared in between breaths.

"Well, it doesn't matter what would have happened if you had them on you. You don't." Xanji told him. "You lose. That's all there is to it."

Freed's face twisted in fury. He was going to say something, when he froze. Soon, he started laughing. Hard.

"Lose? Me? Lose!? As if devil shit! You think I'd lose!? Well think again! I've got allies of my own!" The exorcist said.

"Chief." The short white haired girl spoke up. Rias nodded. "Yeah, I feel it too. Fallen angels. Akeno, get the circle ready." The girl with black hair nodded.

"Yes! That's right! Be scared! I hope you're all sluts for light spears up the butt! Cuz' that's what you're gonna get you devil scum!" Freed roared before laughing.

"Xanji, get over here! We're getting out of here!" Rias ordered, but Xanji stayed still. "Xanji!"

Instead of looking at Rias, Xanji turned and looked down at Asia, wordlessly.

Soon, he turned to Rias. "I'll go as long as I can bring her too." He said, shocking everyone.

Rias narrowed her eyes. "Xanji, we talked about this. You can't be friends with her!"

Xanji stared at Rias.

"I know he has good in him!"

"Everyone has good in them, even devils!"

Xanji's gaze hardened. "If you won't let me bring her with us, I'm staying here."

Asia was staring with wide eyes. "'Xanji…"

But Rias wasn't having it. "Xanji! Any contact is already forbidden! Besides! Only members of my household can go through the jump!"

"Then I'm staying here." Xanji said resolutely.

Rias grit her teeth. "Are you crazy! That's suicide! And I won't allow that!"

When Xanji still wouldn't budge, Rias was getting worried. She could feel fallen angels getting closer.

"Chief, the circle is ready for use." The black haired girl said.

Rias bit her lip. Regrettably, she spoke her next words.

"Koneko. Restrain him."

The girl with white hair nodded, and walked towards Xanji.

Xanji stared in confusion, unsure of what Rias' plan was. That confusion disappeared as soon as the short girl grabbed his arm with tremendous force, and easily moved both his arms behind his back, and started pushing him towards the others.

"H-hey! What the fuck!?" Xanji planted his feet down firmly, trying to resist. He started grinding his teeth at the effort he was putting in.

Unfortunately, it only resulted in slowing the girl down a tiny bit.

No matter what he did, Xanji was still shoved towards Rias and the people around her. A magic circle appeared underneath their feet.

Xanji looked back at Asia, who was trembling underneath his coat.

"Xanji!" She cried.

Xanji stared at her, having finally relented.

"...We'll meet again." He said. "That coat you have." He said, pointing towards the jacket he'd placed on her. "It means a lot to me. Next time we see each other, I'll take it back."

Asia absorbed his words, and nodded tearfully.

And then, Xanji was gone in a crimson flash.

…

Xanji held his cheek, a red mark on it. Rias had just slapped him. They were inside the ORC building.

"When will you listen to me?" Rias asked. "I know this is your first day, okay? I know that. But you have to learn to listen!"

"You and that nun cannot be together! It just isn't possible! A devil and a nun being together is just another war in the making!"

"Not only that, but you almost put everyone else in danger too! How could you possibly think trying to stay there would help the situation?"

"Who asked you to come?" Xanji asked her, taking her by surprise.

"What?" She responded.

"Who asked you to come? I was doing just fine by myself! I would have taken care of him! And besides, I don't know who these people are! Why should I care about them?"

Rias gasped, before attempting to slap him again. But Xanji simply moved his head back, avoiding it.

He scoffed, and turned around to leave.

"And just where do you think you're going?" Rias demanded to know.

"Home." Xanji replied simply.

"Are you crazy? You're house was just invaded by fallen angels! It's been compromised! I refuse to let you go there!"

"Tough." Was all Xanji said in response.

Rias started shaking in anger. Her other servants were taking turns looking at her, at Xanji, and at each other.

Finally, Rias blurted something out.

"Xanji! You are my devil servant! And you will do what I say! And I order you to stay here!"

Xanji stopped walking. Everything was quiet. Amidst the silence, Rias realized what she had just said.

"What did you say?" Xanji turned around with a furious look.

"I… I…" Rias stammered. She didn't mean for it to come out so harshly!

Strangely, Xanji just turned back around and started chuckling.

"You know, it's kind of funny. I was starting to think that maybe, I was a bit too harsh on you this morning. That I should have waited, and heard everything first before judging you."

Rias' heart plummeted, knowing where he was going with this.

"But no. I was right. I'm just your servant, right? You were just worried about your precious little slave, right?"

Rias gulped. "Xanji, I-"

"Oh just shut up." Xanji cut her off. "I don't fucking care about what you have to say anymore. I don't care where I end up. Anywhere is better than here with you."

And with that, he walked out.

The room was filled with a tense and awkward silence.

The blonde male laughed nervously. "He seems quite troublesome, doesn't he?"

Rias let out a deep breath as she collapsed onto one of the leather couches.

"You did sound pretty harsh." The black haired girl admitted. Rias sighed. "I know…"

"Should he be classified as a stray?" She then asked. Rias vehemently shook her head. "No, of course not. We won't be resorting to that." 'I hope.'

…

Late that night, Xanji was standing in front of a heavily damaged building. A building that was once his house.

"..."

He looked up at the remains of his home. The floor, and a few walls were still intact, but everything else, including his furniture, was gone. Presumably destroyed.

Xanji stood their in silence, unsure of what to do with himself.

He heard some rumbling somewhere in the remains of his house, and he stepped inside.

Xanji looked around, but couldn't find the source.

"Nya!" Came a small voice. Xanji turned his head in the direction of what was once his kitchen.

A cat with black fur leaped down from a counter that had somehow remained intact. It stared at Xanji with large golden eyes.

Tentatively, it approached him, before carefully rubbing its head against his leg. "Nya." It purred quietly.

Xanji noticed that it didn't have a collar.

"Are you alone?" Xanji asked the cat. The cat kept rubbing its head against his leg.

Xanji knelt down, before grabbing the cat in his arms.

"Then, we can be alone together." Xanji said, standing in the center of his destroyed home.

…

Sike! You thought Xanji and Rias were going to make up this chapter didn't you? No, it'll take just a bit longer.

BTW, I'm dropping the use of honorifics in most cases. Sorry not sorry.

Also, I know Raynare probably seems completely useless right now, but she'll get stronger I swear. I promise development will happen. She isn't just there to be a harem member lmao. Oh yeah, there's harem in this story, if it wasn't clear. However, I just realized the entire first arc will be taking place in the span of three days, so that might take a bit longer.


	4. Cards that have been dealt

**Took a bit longer than I was expecting, but whatever.**

**Before I start: I'll answer some of the reviews: **

**Mathdump: **

**1: Thanks! I hope the rest of the story lives up to said promise.**

**2: I'm not sure if this was a mistake or not, but yeah, the chapter was released. **

**Solaris456: Again, thanks! Now, I don't think this specific idea is completely original, but there is definitely a lack of what I assume would be a more generally realistic reaction to become a servant/slave without consent. Even if it is to a hot chick lol.**

**Guest: That is… actually not a bad idea. It's not the direction I'm going with exactly, but it could easily work. **

**The 18th Avatar: These aren't bad ideas either, but it isn't really the direction I'm going for. Xanji will try and operate on his own for the most part, and the relationship between him and the rest of the peerage will be very shaky for a while for multiple reasons you'll see. And, he will be forming relationships with other parts of the supernatural earlier than Issei does. But, going stray isn't really something he'd do.**

**Onto the story:**

…

It was still night, and Xanji was sitting and leaning against one of the walls of his destroyed home.

He was looking up at the skypurred silently as he softly stroked the cat in his lap. Said cat was snuggling against him as it purred pleasantly.

Oh, right. He had a cat.

"What the hell am I supposed to do?" Xanji asked aloud.

Raynare, who was meant to go back and inform her superiors of what was going on had been captured.

Asia, who was apparently working with the fallen angels, was also gone. Xanji assumed she was in the same place as Raynare.

She'd tried to defend him even when she was outmatched.

That was something Xanji valued a lot.

But right now, if he wanted to find them, he'd have to do it himself. And he had no idea where to look.

He didn't have anyone but himself right now.

Now, Xanji didn't regret telling Rias off. He meant what he said.

But he surely would like some form of assistance. Preferably some that didn't come from Rias.

Xanji looked down at his right hand. He narrowed his eyes at it.

Everything that had happened to him. Everything from all those years ago to what's been happening now. It was all because of it. Because of _him_.

He had his peaceful life taken from him, and everything he'd cared for violently destroyed before his very eyes.

He had every right to never want to acknowledge its existence every again.

_**"If you only accepted my power, there wouldn't be a single person that could stand in your way."**_

"..."

He hated it. He hated himself for even considering this. Because if he went through with this, there would be no going back. No returning to the live he'd so desperately desired.

Despite what he'd say or do, the time he'd spent at Kuoh Academy had been some of the best times of his life. And that would all go away the moment he decided to go through with this.

But it was the only thing he could think of. He couldn't run away. He knew that. He knew about stray devils. He knew if he tried to leave, he would be hunted down like a dog and killed without hesitation or mercy.

And even if he could, he wouldn't. Because that would mean defeat. And betrayal to the two who defied their own orders to do what they thought was just.

Xanji clenched his fist tightly, and grit his teeth. He hated nothing more than what he was about to do. He stared at his right hand.

"We need to talk, Ddraig."

…

…

…

…

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

For the longest time, nothing came. No response, other than the cat in his lap staring at him curiously.

When he was about to give up on this foolish idea, to think it was all for naught, a deep, rumbling voice erupted in his mind.

**[Have you finally decided to accept it?] **Where the first words the voice had spoken.

'I need help.' Xanji spoke simply.

**[After all this time, you want to ask me for help?]**

'...'

**[Even after I agreed to stay dormant, I've been watching. I do feel sorry for what's happened to you. It is much to endure, especially for someone of your age.]**

Xanji scowled. Ddraig had said those words once before.

**[The fights you've fought, even in the past few days, I've seen them. And I'm disappointed.] **Ddraig said.

**[If you'd used even the slightest fraction of my power, you could have defeated them so much more easily.]**

Xanji knew that. That's why this was so difficult for him. To admit he couldn't do this with his own power.

**[Even if you simply continued training as you did before, you would have had enough strength to-]**

"SHUT YOUR DAMN MOUTH!" Xanji roared, frightening the poor cat he was holding.

For a while, it was silent again. Neither Xanji or Ddraig spoke for what seemed like hours, even if it was only minutes.

**[...I apologize. I see you still hold some resentment.]**

'Of course I fucking do. You're in my head, you should know that.' Xanji replied snarkily.

**[Yes, what happened to you was indeed a tragedy.]**

'Then you should know why this is so hard for me.'

**[I do.] **Ddraig said. **[I also know why you're talking to me now. You've run out of options.]**

'...'

**[I assume you understand there is no return past this point?] **Ddraig asked.

'... I do.'

**[Perfect. I'll lend you my power, and we'll become partners from here on out. You know what I want in return, don't you?]**

'... Yes. I'll fight the White One when the time comes.'

**[That's all I ask. Now, as I understand, we already have our first task.]**

'Yeah, but I don't know where to look to find them.' Xanji said.

**[Come on, partner. Are you really saying that?] **Ddraig asked. **[Think. That Asia girl, what is she?]**

'What is she? You mean a nun? But why does that-'

Suddenly, everything started to make sense. Xanji started to connect the dots. Asia was a nun, Freed was an exorcist, they were working for fallen angels. They were located in the church. And-

'I am an idiot.'

**[At least you have me, partner.]**

'Don't push it.'

With that comment, Xanji abruptly stood up, once again startling the poor cat. It meowed, annoyed as it was let down.

**[What do you think you're doing?]**

'Going to storm the church, obviously!'

**[In your state?] **Ddraig scoffed.

'What are you talking about?'

**[Partner, as you are now, you wouldn't be able to handle nearly as many boosts as you could at full health. You need to sleep.]**

'I don't have time for that! What if something happens to them tonight?'

**[Then you wouldn't be able to stop it. Can't you feel it?] **Ddraig asked.

'What are you talking a-ooooooh fuck.'

With that mental comment, Xanji collapsed on his back, unconscious.

"Nya!?" The black cat jumped in surprise. Once it calmed down, it walked up to Xanji's unconscious body, and poked his face with it's paw.

"Nya?" It licked his face a few times, before hopping on his chest, and curling up to him.

What he didn't realize at the time, was that a certain dragon simply wanted to make sure he was at full health for his upcoming battle, and made him sleep.

Ddraig was glad his partner was finally speaking to him. He was not about to let him potentially die that same night.

…

"Lord Azazel! Lord Azazel! We still haven't been able to contact Kokabiel!"

A frantic male fallen angel was kneeling down in front of another male fallen angel, who was sitting behind a desk.

"Is that so? It's been about a month since we last made contact, right?" The other fallen angel placed a hand on his chin. He had black hair with his front bangs being a golden blonde. He was also sporting a goatee.

This was the governor general of the fallen angels. Their leader: Azazel.

"Yes, that's correct!" The fallen subordinate answered quickly but clearly.

Azazel stroked his chin in thought. "Hm… Has he finally deserted?" He questioned. "Bah, I'll deal with that later. What about those other three, um, what were their names?"

"Do you mean Dohnaseek, Kalawarner and Mittelt sir?"

"Yeah those ones. They've also been gone for a while, huh?"

"Yes, do you think something has happened to them, sir?"

Azazel stroked his chin. "I don't particularly care for what happens to those ones, they always hung around Kokabiel more. I'm more worried about that other girl they took with them."

"Raynare?"

"Yes. I'm not sure how they tricked her to get her to go along with them. She really is much like her mother."

"Ah yes, miss-"

"Do we have a visual on their base of operations?" Azazel suddenly asked.

His subordinate nodded. "Yes, sir. Would you like me to bring it up."

Azazel nodded. "Yes, do that."

Once the visual was pulled up, Azazel could see Kuoh's 'abandoned' church surrounded by the black of night.

The leader of the fallen angels squinted his eyes, and he saw a lone figure standing right outside the church, staring at it.

"Get closer to it." Azazel ordered.

His subordinate gave a quick nod and a 'yes sir' before doing exactly that.

Once Azazel got a better view, he could see the figure clearly. It appeared to be a young man with white hair and an eyepatch as his most distinguishable features.

"Keep the visual up, I want to see what happens next." Azazel ordered as he kept his eyes on the video in front of him.

…

"So, this is it?" Xanji asked, looking up at the church building as he stood directly in front of it.

'The place Asia and Raynare are being held captive.'

It was the next day, and it was completely dark outside. Xanji had decided it was best to attack at night. The cover of darkness would make the church easier to infiltrate.

"But I guess that wasn't necessary." Xanji thought aloud as he turned his head, facing the bodies littered around the area. They were the bodies of the exorcists that were guarding the church.

**[See? If this wasn't the place, they wouldn't have so many guards.] **Ddraig spoke.

'Or any guards at all.' Xanji continued the conversation mentally. 'But yeah, you're right. There was also those guys patrolling the woods. I didn't even have to use your power against those small fry.'

**[Yes, that may be so, but once you fight those fallen angels, you'll have to use it.]**

'Whatever. Suppose I should go in now.' Xanni thought before raising his leg and slamming the large door down with a strong kick.

**[I see you still don't value stealth.]**

'I plan on killing them all anyways. Stealth doesn't matter.'

**[Tell me partner, why do you wish to save them so badly?]**

Xanji looked up.

_"I guess I just didn't have the heart to do it."_

_"There's good in everyone, even devils!"_

"... She has my favorite jacket."

Xanji walked into the church with his hands in his pockets. He looked to be completely nonchalant, but he was still keeping his guard up.

If there was one thing he was glad to have after turning into a devil, it was night vision.

"Hey, there's no point in hiding, just come on out already." Xanji called out into the large room.

From his right, Xanji heard someone clap. He turned his head, and from behind a pillar came Freed Sellzen.

"Well well well, who do we have here?" The exorcist asked rhetorically with a grin.

However, his grin was quick to vanish.

"It's the stupid devil shit that humiliated me!" He snarled.

"You don't seem to happy to see me." Xanji commented. "I can't blame you though; the feeling's mutual."

"No, you can't understand how pissed I am!" Freed roared.

"You see, I pride myself on the fact that I only meet any single devil once. Why? Because that's when I slice them up! I meet a devil, and kill them first try! But you? No, no that didn't happen with you! Not only did you live, but you beat me! And not only did you beat me, but you pried my beloved weapons away from me! You forced me and my pride and joys to part forever!"

Freed was seething. "You get it devil scum? You're very life is an embarrassment to me! Every step you take is utter humiliation for me! Every breath you take is another grim reminder of my _failure_! Of my tarnished reputation!"

"Must have been a very painful twenty-four hours then." Xanji rolled his eyes.

Freed's eye started twitching periodically, and a large vein bulged in his forehead, but otherwise he didn't react to Xanji's comment. Instead, he continued his speech.

"But that's okay. Why? Because I'm going to rectify this. _Immediately. _You're going to die here, in the most brutal way possible! I will use every torture method available! I'll slowly skin you, while chopping of your fingers and toes one by one. Then, your hands and feet. Then? Your limbs! Not a single part of you will be spared! Your cries of pain and terror and pleads for it to end will haunt devil kind for the rest of their days!" Freed finally concluded his speech.

'He really takes his job seriously.'

**[It seems this one's finally lost it.]**

"Okay buddy, that's nice and all, but you just mentioned you don't have any weapons. The hell are you going to do?" Xanji asked.

Freed tilted his head with a cocked eyebrow. "No weapons? Did I say that?" He asked.

Suddenly, he grinned maniacally. "No! Because I've got new ones!" He quickly whipped out a sword of light and a pistol, and rushed Xanji.

Xanji leaned back, avoiding a sword swipe. He side-stepped, dodging a downwards slash.

Freed let out a frustrated growl, and started slashing his sword every which way, trying to cut Xanji down.

However, Xanji kept effortlessly dodging the attacks, not gaining a single scratch. Bending his neck, side-stepping, bending and twisting his body, the exorcist's sword just couldn't reach him.

"WILL! YOU! STOP! MOVING! AROUND!" Freed shouted/demanded as he kept missing his target.

Xanji halted, and stood up straight. Freed grinned, and swung his sword down at Xanji's head.

*CLANG!*

Only for Xanji to bring his right hand up, and block the light sword as a red draconic gauntlet that appeared on it.

"W-what?" Freed gasped at the sight of the gauntlet. "What the hell is that? You have a sacred gear?"

**[Boost!]**

Xanji slowly gained a savage grin as the green gem on his gauntlet shined. He moved his hand, and grabbed the exorcist's sword.

"Frees Freed Freed. As much as I would love to go back and forth with you, trading hateful banter, _especially _after that heartfelt speech you just gave, time just won't let me."

Suddenly, Xanji's covered hand, and Freed's sword started trembling.

"What the hell are you doing?" Freed asked, in a way which sounded halfway between a demand and a desperate plea for answers.

"You're not the one I'm here for, Freed. But, I'll still gladly take care of you."

**[Boost!]**

With that call, Freed's sword, a weapon made of holy light, shattered.

"!?" Freed's eyes widened. His sword, an object of light… was completely shattered by a _devil!?_

"Guah!" The exorcist actually coughed up _blood _when Xanji's knee was rammed into his gut. The blow resulted in Freed being sent flying into the wall behind him.

Freed fell to the ground, and rolled onto his stomach. He started coughing violently as he struggled to push himself up. With just a single blow, he was practically incapacited.

The exorcist heard footsteps approaching. He managed to move his head just enough to see Xanji's legs.

While he couldn't see him well, Freed could hear him perfectly.

"You must've felt pretty good all your life, thinking you were the shit." Xanji spoke.

"Tell me, how is it in that delusional world of yours? The one where we're equals."

**[Boost!]**

Freed slowly managed to support himself by leaning against the wall he'd been sent into.

He tried to stand up, only to have himself knocked to the side by a foot being buried in the side of his face.

Freed let out a groan of pain.

Xanji started walking towards the exorcist.

"I'm going to beat you. And then, I'm going to kill you. But before you die, you will tell me _everything. _Where Asia is being held, where Raynare is being held, what the plan with them is, and…"

Xanji knelt down, and grabbed him by his collar, forcing the exorcist to look at him. And for the first time in his life, Freed felt fear.

"Where the other fallen angels are." Xanji concluded, with a terrifyingly rageful expression on his face.

**[Boost!]**

"Let's start, shall we?"

Freed was lifted completely off the ground, and Xanji punched him directly in the solar plexus.

The devil released Freed, letting him get knocked away by his attack.

As Xanji walked closer to him, Freed frantically forced himself to get up.

He pointed his gun at Xanji, and fired shot after shot, desperate to land a bullet.

Xanji rolled his eyes, and leaned forward, avoiding the first few bullets. He pivoted his body to avoid the next few.

Narrowing his eyes, Xanji lunged at Freed. At that point, he resembled nothing but a red blur as he crushed the exorcist's face with his fist.

*CRACK!*

That was Freed's nose as he was once again sent hurtling away.

Freed wailed as he clutched his face. His whole world was spinning. How the hell this that devil get so powerful?

The last time they fought they were on seemingly equal levels. But now? It was insane how much power Xanji held!

'It has to be that fucking gauntlet! But what the hell is it!? What kind of sacred gear bullshit makes its wielder so much stronger!?'

**[Boost!]**

Freed managed to look up, to see Xanji with his leg up. What the hell was he…

Freed's eyes widened.

Underneath Xanji's foot, was his gun. His only form of defense left! When had he…

'Fuck! I let go of it when he punched me!' Freed roared in his mind.

"Must suck. Losing your 'precious' weapons twice in a row to the same person.

"Y-you… you! Don't you fucking dare! Damn YOUUUUUUUU!"

With a grin, Xanji brought his foot down, crushing the gun into pieces.

"FUUUUUUCK!" Freed snarled in rage. He was practically hyperventilating.

"So, are you ready to talk?" Xanji asked. What?

Freed felt himself being lifted once again. He soon saw himself face to face with Xanji.

"Where are Asia and Raynare being held?" Xanji asked seriously.

Freed let out a pained wheeze which eventually turned into a chuckle, and then into full blown laughter.

"You better stop laughing and answer me before I break you're goddamn legs!" Xanji snarled.

"No, no, I'll tell you. Those sluts are both being kept in the same room. It's a secret room, underneath the church. All you have to do is-*cough*turn the altar!" Freed coughed out.

Xanji smirked. "Hm, you talked rather easily. I guess you saw things my way."

Freed started laughing again. "Saw things your way? Dream on devil bitch! I only told you because it doesn't matter anymore! Even if you do go down there you won't stand a chance against Dohnaseek once his plan goes through!"

Xanji's eye widened. "Dohnaseek? He's alive?" He muttered in shock.

Freed grinned through the pain. "That's right! But don't think it wasn't close! You really got him good the other day! He was basically half dead all day, the others could barely keep him alive-" Freed started hacking again. Once he calmed down, he continued.

"But then a little blonde nun girl came just in time to heal him right back up!"

**[Boost!]**

Xanji's grip on the exorcist tightened. "Asia? Are you trying to tell me Asia healed him!?"

"That's right! The slut's so hopelessly naive she just did it without complaint! And the best part? It'll be her death! You wanna know why she's so important? It's her sacred gear! And Dohnaseek's going to perform a ritual and steal it for himself! Then nobody will stand a chance! All you devil scum will die before him!"

"You know what happens to users of the sacred gear once it's stolen from them? They die! And believe me, it isn't pleasant! You can hear their pained and terrified screams from across town!" Freed cackled. Xanji stayed silent.

"You're the one who brought her here right? How does it feel knowing you're the reason she's going to-" Freed never got to finish his sentence, because Xanji slammed his fist into his face, cutting him off.

With no sound but a few grunts as Xanji repeated the motion over, and over, and over again.

When he was done, Freed's face was completely disfigured. The exorcist's nose was split, his teeth cracked, and he was bleeding from his eyes.

Xanji glared at the exorcist in pure hatred and rage, before raising his fist one more time.

*BAM!*

*CRACK!*

*SHLICK*

With that final blow, Freed's face split in half as Xanji's fist went completely through his skull.

Wordlessly, Xanji stood up, and released the remains of the exorcist's body.

As Freed's body hit the floor, something fell out of his hand. A small device.

The sound of it bouncing on the ground caught Xanji's attention.

"Huh?" He walked over to the device. He knelt down and picked it up. It didn't _look_ like a bomb, so he didn't feel any need to be on guard.

Well, he _hadn't_. But suddenly, he felt two presences at the entrance of the church.

"Well, would you look at _this _mess."

"Is this why that scumbag exorcist had the balls to signal us?"

Xanji turned around. He glared at the two people who'd just entered the church.

Two women. One was tall, about Xanji's height, and had long blue hair. The other was short with frilly blonde hair tied up in pigtails.

They both looked at Xanji, and then surveyed the damaged church. Then they turned back to him.

"So, you're a devil right? Did you really come here alone? There's no way. Where are your other friends?" The short one asked.

Xanji kept his glare, and fully faced the two women. He clenched his fists, before entering a fighting stance.

The short one looked back up to the taller one.

"I don't think he wants to talk."

"I can see that. You know, I _do _prefer men who like to take action." The tall one licked her lips.

Her friend seemed disgusted. "Uh, ew. That's disgusting! You really are a slut Kalawarner."

Kalawarner rolled her eyes. "Oh shut it bitch, you're just mad that no real man wants that childish body of yours, Mittelt."

Mittelt gasped. "Oh, you did _not _just say that! At least I don't look like a washed up hooker!"

Kalawarner snarled as the two began butting heads. "At least _I'm _not a pedophile's wet dream! Hard to believe you're over twelve with that _flat _body of yours!"

Mittelt growled. "Hard to believe _you'd _be anything other than an old hag with all those _WRINKLES!" _

Kalawarner stuttered in rage. "Y-you… why you little-"

Xanji watched the two argue with a deadpan look.

'I'm going to kill them.' He thought.

**[Please do.]** Ddraig added.

**[Boost!]**

Mittelt momentarily stopped her argument with Kalawarner when she caught something in the corner of her eye.

"Huh?" She turned her head in confusion. Her eyes quickly widened. She barely managed to raise her arms in time as Xanji delivered a strong punch.

Even though the punch was blocked, to Mittelt, it still felt as if she was glass that had just shattered. She was blown away, but managed to shakily regain her balance.

'W-when did he…?'

Xanji ducked, avoiding a light spear aimed for his side. He quickly raised his leg, and landed a powerful high kick to Kalawarner's face.

Kalawarner was also sent back by the force of his attack. But due to the nature of it, she was sent into the air. She caught herself by releasing her two fallen angel wings.

Both fallen angels were huffing. Mittelt growled. "Okay bastard, no more playing around!"

The short fallen angel summoned two light spears, and threw them on after another. Xanji simply stepped aside to dodge the first spear, and leaned back to avoid the second one.

"Ah ah ah." Only to see a third spear plunging down at his heart, courtesy of Kalawarner.

But the spear was halted, only a few centimeters from piercing Xanji's chest.

Kalawarner's eyes widened.

Xanji grit his teeth as he growled audibly. He was gripping the spear tightly with his right hand.

"Impossible!" Kalawarner cried as she struggled to push the spear down. The weapon of light was trembling in their grasps. "No devil should be able to hold light!"

**[Xanji, you should act quickly. Even with with the Boosted Gear protecting your hand, that spear will destroy your hand if you hold onto it for too long!]**

Xanji snarled in response.

**[Boost!]**

"I fucking know!" Xanji roared, before slightly shifting his body, and in a show of tremendous flexibility, landed a kick on Kalawarner's temple.

"Grrr!" Kalawarner let go of her spear to hold her head. Xanji hastily threw the spear aside as it dissipated.

He flipped around, and punched Kalawarner in her solar plexus.

As the fallen angel gasped for air, Xanji spun around, and slammed his elbow in her face, knocking her away.

Now, Xanji was facing Mittelt, who was staring in shock.

"What kind of devil are you supposed to be!?" She demanded. "Your not supposed to be able to do that!" Mittelt stomped her foot on the ground, almost like a whining child.

"Maybe I'm just more resilient." Xanji offered with a smirk.

Mittelt snarled at him, before summoning a light spear.

She flew towards him, and stabbed at him with her spear. Xanji grabbed the arm that was holding the spear base of the spear with his left hand, and yanked it forwards. Because of this, the light spear missed its target.

"Is summoning light spears all you fallen angels know how to do?" Xanji asked, before landing numerous blows on the defenseless Mittelt with his right hand, whilst still holding onto her with his left.

**[Boost!]**

Mittelt felt her head get knocked back by a strong punch, before Xanji finally released her arm, and with a strong kick to her body, she was sent flying as well.

Her small body bounced on the ground painfully a few times, before settling on the floor.

It seemed the fight had been settled.

"I'm kind of disappointed. I was told fallen angels were supposed to be some sort of supreme beings. Obviously not." Xanji said to himself.

"Although, this does make things easier I suppose." He added before turning to the altar.

**[Partner, I suggest you stay on your guard.] **Ddraig spoke up. **[It seems the fight isn't as easy as you though.]**

'What do you mean?' Xanji asked, before something caught his attention.

He looked over to Kalawarner's body, to see her slowly, but steadily standing back up. She seemed incredibly pissed.

Xanji turned his head in the other direction, and saw Mittelt doing the same thing. They both seemed to have taken considerable damage, but were still standing.

"Uh?" Xanji cocked his head slightly, before smirking. "Maybe you aren't so weak after all."

Mittelt snarled. "Shut your damn mouth!"

With that, she lunged at him with a fierce look in her eyes, and a light spear in each hand.

Mittelt threw one of the light spears with surprising strength for her body. Xanji leaned back, letting the spear speed over him.

"!?" Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kalawarner behind him, the same fierce look in her eyes as she shot her own light spear in an upwards arc.

Xanji went to lean back up, but when looked before him, he saw Mittelt standing above him, bringing her other light spear in a downwards arc.

"Tch!"

**[Boost!]**

In one quick, fluid motion, Xanji twisted his body around, landing a punch on Kalawarner's face and a kick on Mittelt's face at the same time, halting their simultaneous attack.

'That was close.'

"Hm!?" Xanji looked on his chest, and there was a very small wound. A very faint amount of smoke came out of it, before fading entirely.

Xanji hissed as he rubbed the wound. It had been too close.

The two fallen angels wasted no time in regrouping with each other.

'I won't let that happen again!'

Xanji rushed towards the duo, aiming for Mittelt. The small fallen angel summoned a light spear, and tried to stab him with it. Xanji ducked it, and aimed a punch at her face. Mittelt's eyes widened when she realized she couldn't dodge it.

But right before the fist could hit her, she felt herself being pulled out of the way. Kalawarner had dragged her by her clothes, yanking her away from the attack.

The tall fallen angel let go of Mittelt, spun around, brought her left leg up, and landed a spin on Xanji, who raised his arms to blocked it. And even though he blocked it on time, the force of it caused him to be knocked away.

The two fallen angels flew towards him at the same time, both armed with light spears.

Xanji ducked, avoiding their spears, and delivered a punch to Kalawarner's face.

But as he did so, Mittelt took the opportunity to punch him.

"Tch!" Xanji caught the fist just as it was about it hit his face. He was about to throw a kick, but was forced to lean back to avoid a light spear, courtesy of Kalawarner.

As both fallen angels tried to stab him with a light spear, Xanji twisted his body, and rolled out of the way.

He stood back up, but was forced to raise his arms to block Kalawarner's punch. Xanji quickly threw a punch of his own, but it just failed to fully connect.

"!?" Mittelt had somehow got behind him, and grabbed him, pulling his punch. He returned his gaze forwards, and his eye widened. He forced himself and Mittelt to lean back to dodge Kalwarner's light spear, but Xanji wasn't fast enough completely dodge it.

The tip of the spear slash him between the eyes, Xanji hissing at the burning sensation. The fallen angel duo took the chance to each deliver punches to his chest, knocking him back.

Xanji stumbled back a few steps, but stayed on his feet. He was facing the ground as blood poured down his face.

For the longest time, he just stood there,quiet and unmoving. Kalawarner and Mittelt both stood next to each other, panting in heavy exhaustion.

"Hey, he's been standing there for a while." Mittelt spoke up. "Do you think he passed out on his feet?" She turned to Kalawarner. The tall fallen angel smirked. "I think so. He was definitely strong. And that gauntlet of his… Is it what I think it is?"

MIttelt shrugged. "Maybe, but he must have only discovered it not too long ago. He was just unlucky to have to face the strongest fallen angel duo of all time!" She said, gaining a smirk of her own.

Kalawarner chuckled. "That's right. We should finish him off now. Who's turn is it again?"

Mittelt looked up in thought. Her face scrunched up as she tried to recall. Once she did, her face soured. "Ugh, I think it's your turn. Damnit."

Kalawarner chuckled again. "Well, aren't I lucky?" She said playfully, before summoning one last light spear.

Mittelt scowled. "Whatever. Just know it's my turn next!" Kalawarner rolled her eyes, before throwing the spear at the still Xanji.

**[Boost!]**

As soon as the spear neared him, however, Xanji grabbed the spear firmly with his right hand.

"Funny… it's really funny…" Xanji spoke up, just loud enough for the two fallen angels to hear. "On your own, you're pitifully weak…" The spear cracked and cracked, until it shattered into pieces and vanished. "But together, you can push me this much…"

Xanji looked up, and his uncovered eye was a bright green. "You remind me of a few people I met once. Two cat girls if I recall. They were sisters, twins actually."

Kalawarner and Mittelt started shaking.

"How… how can you still move? HOW CAN YOU DESTROY LIGHT SPEARS!?" Mittelt shrieked.

"You know, it's really a shame for both of you." Xanji started them, ignoring Mittelt's question. "Before I came here, I'd already come to the decision of killing you all. If things had been even only slightly different, I might have asked you to work with me." Xanji cracked his neck.

"As if we would ever work with an enemy! Least of all a devil!" Kalawarner snarled.

"Well, it doesn't matter. Because both of you are going to die."

Mittelt grinded her teeth together, before summoning two light spears and throwing them both on after another in Xanji's direction.

Xanji avoided both of them by side-stepping. Mittelt growled, and summoned two more light spears and rushing towards him in rage.

"Mittelt! Wait!" Kalwarner cried, but the short fallen angel didn't listen.

"You should listen to your comrade." Xanji spoke, before he sped towards Mittelt in a red flash. "Because I'm not playing around anymore." He slammed his fist in her gut, causing her to groan loudly.

And then, both of his fists were surrounded in a red light, and in the next few seconds, Xanji landed a flurry of blows on the small fallen angel. All of which were focused on weak points. Her solar plexus, her liver, her throat, no part of her was safe.

Eventually, Xanji shot a straight punch to Mittelt's face, sending her barrelling into the far wall of the church.

Xanji turned to Kalawarner, and rushed her before she could properly react.

**[Boost!]**

Xanji wrapped his arms around the back of her head, and pulled her down as he brought his knee up, brutally burying it in her face. He followed with a few more knee shots, before he lowered his arms, turning around, and throwing her into an opposite wall.

"If you wanted any chance of surviving after this point, no matter how small it was, you should have fought me together. Instead, you let your emotions into your attacks, blinding you."

Xanji started walking towards the altar, prepared to blow it away to reveal Dohnaseek's hiding place, when he heard some rumblings.

He turned around, and saw both Kalawarner and MIttelt trying to get up.

"Hm, I didn't kill you with that? You're both a bit tougher than I thought. I'll make sure to finish the job this time though."

Kalawarner tried supporting herself with her hands and knees, while Mitteltwas using her entire arms. They were looking up at Xanji with even fiercer looks.

'We have to win!' Mittelt thought fiercely. 'It doesn't matter how we do it! We just have to kill him!'

Kalawarner grit her teeth. 'Losing isn't an option! Because if we do… that man…' She thought of Dohnaseek. 'He accepted us! He picked us up and took us in! We can't let this monster get to him!'

…

Thousands of years ago, during the events of the Great War. Many angels fell in this time. And for the ones that did, it was a greater hell than hell itself.

Their former brothers and sisters, their allies, their fellow children of God, all turned their backs on them without hesitation. As if the fact they had been serving the Lord with complete faithfulness meant nothing.

To the angels, the simple act of falling was the greatest betrayal. It was the greatest crime against God. To serve him, to be his child, and turn your back on his love and kindness.

It didn't matter if you were friends that same day. If you had fallen, your friends would not hesitate to cut you down as soon as you fell.

And it wasn't much better on the fallen side. They were constantly wary of their new 'allies', and verbal beration and physical violence was common place to keep the recently fallen 'in check'.

Kalawarner and Mittelt were no exceptions.

Both being as close as possible all throughout their long lives, when one fell, the other quickly followed. However, their other friends had tried to hunt them down, for committing such 'betrayal'.

It didn't matter that it was an accident. They were hunted down like dogs. And the fallen that existed during the war did almost nothing to help them.

When they were hungry, cold and alone, one man had found them, and given them protection. Dohnaseek. He gave them a home, and the three of them survived the war together.

It didn't matter his plans, the two would follow him no matter what. If they needed to sacrifice themselves, they would.

…

'God turned his back on us…' Kalawarner trailed off in her mind as she slowly and shakily stood up.

'And he gave helped us when we were left to die by all…' Mittelt trailed off as she also got up with a struggle.

'WE HAVE TO WIN!' They both thought as they simultaneously lunged for Xanji. All traces of beauty and cuteness gone from their faces as they had been replaced by a desperate fierceness.

"I truly admire the persistence." Xanji spoke.

Xanji ducked a punch from Kalawarner, and grabbed her arm. Mittelt tried to stab him with a light spear, but he jerked his body to the side, avoiding it. Xanji also grabbed her arm tightly.

He flicked his wrists, sending his two fallen angel opponents flying in opposite directions.

They caught themselves, and both of them summoned two light spears. Mittelt threw her light spears to Xanji's left and right. While Kalawarner threw hers in the center. Xanji jumped, dodging all three.

He flipped, and landed on his feet, before rushing towards Kalawarner. The fallen angel still had one spear left, and threw it at him with all the strength she could muster in her tired state.

However, Xanji raised his covered hand, and knocked it away, not losing any momentum from doing so. Now Kalawarner was completely defenseless. Xanji cocked his fist back.

Kalawarner raised her arms to block the incoming punch, but her eyes widened when she never felt it connect. Xanji's punch had stopped halfway.

"W-why-" Kalawarner cried out in agony as pain shredded through her body. Instead of a punch, Xanji landed a brutal knee to her body. Specifically, her ribcage.

There was a small, barely audible crack that signified the shattering of the ribs that bore the brunt of Xanji's attack. In that moment, Kalawarner was completely immobilized.

Xanji didn't stop there, though. That attack wasn't the finishing move, but the starting one.

Another louder, brutal crack was heard as Xanji's right fist rammed into the fallen's face, obliterating her nose.

Xanji's next attack, a left jab, used the same amount of power to strike Kalawarner's throat, completely severing the flow of her breathing.

She only got the time to cough once before Xanji struck once more. This time, he landed another cruel blow to her solar plexus.

After that, Xanji just started to pummel her. Dozens of brutal strikes connected one after the other, each one leaving devastating damage. It wasn't just face or front, no part of her was spared once again.

Xanji curved his punch in a semi-circular upwards arc, coming into contact with the fallen angel's left elbow. The result of the force was Kalawarner's arm immediately breaking, being bent in an upwards angle. It look horrifying.

Xanji raised his leg, and kicked her skull, causing her head to snap back. But Xanji grabbed her by her hair, forcing her back, delivering one more knee to her face, blood gushing everywhere as a result.

As he stared at the downed fallen angel, Xanji ducked, and reached behind him with his right arm. He gripped a collar tightly as a light spear flew over him.

Xanji swung his arm, slamming Mittelt into the ground harshly.

And then, he did the same thing to her as well.

This time, however, neither of them could stand up again.

…

In a large, dark and cold room underneath the church, the fallen angel Dohnaseek stood before a large cross, where the blonde nun Asia Argento was chained too. The first layer of her nun outfit had been removed, but she had Xanji's black jacket on her. Asia had refused to let go of, no matter what. In a way, it was a way for her to cling to hope.

Behind them were an army of dozens upon dozens of exorcists.

The nun was trying desperately to escape, wriggling and lurching her body forwards in an attempt to break the chains.

However, it continued to result in failure, only serving to mildly amuse Dohnaseek.

"You should give up." He advised with a cruel grin.

"Please! Let me go!" Asia shouted, continuing to struggle against her chains. Dohnaseek chuckled, and shook his head.

"There's no way you're getting out of those. I only need a little more time, and then the ritual can finally begin! Once it's over, I'll be unstoppable! Nobody will be able to stop me!"

Dohnaseek turned his head to the side. "And that goes for you, too. Traitor." He sneered.

He was looking at Raynare, who was chained to a wall. She was in her fallen angel attire, which consisted of an incredibly revealing BDSM outfit. She was also covered in bruises.

Raynare glared harshly at the other fallen angel. "_You're _the traitor here!" She snarled. "This goes against everything Lord Azazel stands for!"

Dohnaseek returned the snarl. "Lord Azazel this, Lord Azazel that! Shut your whore mouth! No shit this goes against that lazy bastard! Azazel can't hold a candle against Kokabiel! And once I'm through here, he's next!"

Raynare's eyes widened. "Lord Kokabiel really is a traitor?" She whispered, before narrowing her eyes. "You fool! You can't possibly think either you _or _Kokabiel stand a chance against Azazel! He's the Governor General for a _reason_!"

"Didn't I tell you to shut your mouth?!" Dohnaseek retorted. "You should heed those words. The only reason I've even kept you alive is because of that heritage of yours." Raynare suddenly got quiet, and narrowed her eyes, giving Dohnaseek the most venomous look she could muster.

"I still can't believe you hold such blood, yet you're still so weak!" Dohnaseek said. "Although, I can't say I expected too much from a _child_." Dohnaseek said mockingly.

"Lord Kokabiel has plans for you. To break you, and turn you into a weapon and a toy for his personal use."

"You will _not _get away with this!" Raynare seethed. Dohnaseek chuckled again. "And who's going to stop me? Your little boyfriend? Please, by the time I'm done here, it will be like comparing a mountain to an insect. He'll be nothing to me, even if he's become a devil!"

Dohnaseek turned his head back to Asia, and started to finish his preparations.

Raynare started grinding her teeth, before she gained a sick grin. "Is that so? You sound pretty confident." She said. "But you're scared, aren't you?"

Dohnaseek snapped his head in Raynare's direction so quickly it was a surprise he didn't get whiplash. He had an absolutely furious look on his face. "What did you say!?"

Raynare's grin widened. "Your scared of him, aren't you? I don't completely blame you. He's a real beast~. Even if you get Twilight Healing, are you sure you're going to fight him again? I'm not so sure. I think you'll only run away, and leave it to someone else. Because-"

"Shut your damn mouth!" Dohnaseek roared.

"You're a coward." Raynare finished.

Dohnaseek snarled with fury. "Enough! Fuck Lord Kokabiel's plans! I'm going to fucking kill you right here and now!" He lunged for Raynare, who's eyes widened.

Before he could touch her, a large boom at the other side of the room caught everyone's attention.

A large portion of the wall where the entrance was had been completely destroyed. In the center of the destruction was a single figure, whose face was masked by the darkness of the room.

Every single being was completely silent as the figure walked down the steps into the room. In the beginning, his footsteps were the only sound. Dohnaseek stiffened at the figure's oppressive aura.

The figure's face was still shrouded in darkness, safe for their right eye. There was a green glint, before a small green flame was coming from the eye.

As he got closer, it became apparent he was holding two objects in his hands.

Finally, he reached the last quarter of steps, and the features of his face, his white hair, and his eyepatch were revealed.

"Xanji!" Asia called, happy and relieved to see him. Raynare also had a similar expression.

The objects he were holding were also revealed. They weren't objects, but people. In his right hand, he was holding Kalawarner, and in his left, Mittelt. He was dragging them by their hair.

"You… you!" Dohnaseek stumbled his words in rage, and slight fear. "How did you find this place?! How did you defeat Kalawarner and Mittelt!?"

Xanji didn't respond to the question. He raised his arms, showing off the disfigured faces of the two female fallen angels, only increasing his oppressive aura. He threw them both to the side, their bodies falling limply to the ground.

"Hello, fallen angel Dohnaseek." Xanji spoke. "I was surprised to find out you were alive." He admitted.

Dohnaseek balled his fists. He looked at his army of exorcists, and barked an order at them. "Don't just stand there! Kill him! Kill the intruder!" He roared.

"Yes, come." Xanji said. "But before you do, I'd like to introduce myself."

"Who you are doesn't matter to them!" Dohnaseek snarled, before looking at the exorcists, who still had yet to move. "What are you doing! Attack!"

"I think it is." Xanji retorted. He raised his right arm, showing off his gauntlet to them all. The exorcists were confused, but Dohnaseek's eyes widened. "The Red Dragon Emperor…" He muttered in shock.

"That's right." Xanji said, before reaching for his eyepatch, and removing it, gripping it tightly in his hand. Dohnaseek's eyes widened even further as Xanji's left eye was revealed to all in the room.

"That… that eye…" He mumbled. Everyone in the room, including Raynare and Asia, shivered in fear.

"I am Xanji Myoto, the current wielder of Ddraig, the Red Dragon Emperor, or Sekiryuutei!"

The green gem in his gauntlet shone strongly, and his devil wings sprouted from his back.

"And you are all going to DIE!"

**[Explosion!]**

Xanji's body was covered in a red light, before it exploded into a massive field of red energy. The oppressive aura he emitted only furthered to the point where some of the exorcists couldn't even move.

Xanji roared, and lunged towards the group of exorcists.

Dohnaseek whipped around and faced the cross Asia was chained too, and started to work on it frantically, trying to get it ready for the ritual while his exorcist underlings stalled for time.

…

The whole of Rias and her peerage felt the ORC building shake as Kuoh Town tremble.

"What was that?" Kiba asked wearily. Koneko hid it well, but she was worried about the massive surge of power they had all just felt.

They were are reeling from what they had just felt.

Akeno turned to Rias. "Rias…" She muttered. Rias' eyes were wide, and she was trembling.

"That energy… it came from the abandoned church." The red haired devil said.

"The church…" Akeno thought aloud. "Do you think it's-" The ravenette stopped as RIas rushed out of room as fast as she could.

"C-Chief!" Kiba called, surprised by Rias's sudden move.

…

"How… how is this possible?" Dohnaseek asked in complete disbelief. The fallen angel was trembling. "HOW CAN YOU DO THIS!? TELL ME! HOW CAN YOU BE THIS POWERFUL!?" He roared at the top of lungs.

Xanji looked up at him, a neutral expression on his face. Littered around him were the unmoving bodies of the entire army of exorcists. Blood dripped from his hand and gauntlet, and a large amount of it was splattered on the floor, and the walls.

"X-Xanji…" Asia muttered in surprise.

"It didn't even take him a minute…" Raynare was equally as surprised. And the way he did it was so animalistic, yet held so much precision and grace, it was impossible to explain.

"If you release them both now, I'll kill you quickly instead of slowly." Xanji said to Dohnaseek. The fallen angel clenched his fists. This was bad. The fallen angel didn't stand a chance against a dragon emperor. He knew that.

He only needed a bit more time, just a few more minutes, and then the ritual could start. Yes, he'd steal the nun's sacred gear, then fight his way through Xanji, take Raynare, and then regroup with Kokabiel.

"Kill me? Kill me!? What makes you think you can kill me? You think you can stand up to a supreme being like me?" Dohnaseek tried to bluff.

"I know I am stronger than you." Xanji answered. "And you know it, too. That's why you're scared."

Dohnaseek snarled. "What makes you think I'm afraid of you? You're just a dumb, filthy devil!"

"You're shaking. Your breathing, and the way your speaking to me. It all shows that deep down, you're terrified of me." Xanji explained. "But that's not a bad thing. You _should _be afraid."

Xanji started walking towards Dohnaseek. The fallen angel instinctively recoiled.

"You! Get away from me you freak!" Dohnaseek summoned a light spear, and threw it at Xanji. Xanji simply knocked it aside, before lunging at Dohnaseek.

In a single second, he was holding onto the fallen angel by his collar. Dohnaseek's expression was one of pure terror.

"I know about the ritual you're trying to do. You want to stall me until it's ready, right? Well that's not going to happen." Xanji raised his fist, and punched Dohnaseek to the ground, the fallen's head bouncing painfully off the floor.

Xanji picked him up again. "You're seriously pathetic, you know? Hiding behind so many people, and then not even fighting me. Well, it doesn't matter anymore."

Xanji raised his fist once again. "No one is coming to bail you out of this. All of your allies are dead. Because _I've _killed them. My plan was to make you suffer before death, but currently, I don't have much time until this power wears off, so I'll finish you now."

Dohnaseek immediately started struggling, trying to squirm his way out of Xanji's grip. He grabbed the devil's hands, tried to punch him, but Xanji never let go.

"No, no, NO! I WAS SO CLOSE! I ONLY NEEDED A BIT MORE TIME! I WOULD HAVE KILLED YOU! I WOULD HAVE BEEN UNSTOPPABLE! I WOULD-"

The rest of Dohnaseek's desperate final speech was cut short as Xanji shoved his covered forearm the fallen angel's throat, killing him.

Xanji pulled his arm back. The gauntlet was covered in blood. He let go of Dohnaseek's body, which fell to the ground limply.

Xanji stood up, and his gaze met Asia's. The nun had a relieved expression on her face, surprisingly unfazed by the brutal violence he'd just displayed.

Asia smiled. "Xanji… you came… you really came to save me…" She said happily. Xanji walked up to the cross she was chained too, and easily tore the chains, setting her down. The nun fell into his arms.

Asia wrapped her arms around Xanji, clinging onto him tightly and desperately. Suddenly, like a dam bursting, tears started to flow from her eyes. Asia was sobbing tears full of emotion.

"Thank you! Thank you! I-I was so scared! I thought I was-" Her thankful words were cut off by Xanji wrapping one of his arms around her, and placing the other on her head. He was petting her.

"It's okay. I told you I would find you, so I did. You went against them to try and protect me, even though I didn't need it. That does mean a lot to me. I just wanted to return the favor." Xanji tilted his head, staring at Raynare, who was still chained to a wall. "That goes for you, too."

Xanji removed himself from Asia, and went up to the fallen angel. He knelt down, and broke her chains as well. He was staring at her the entire time. They both had smiles on their faces.

Compared to the heavy and violent atmosphere from before, they were surrounded by a much softer, and gentle atmosphere.

Once she was free, Raynare hugged him. "Thanks." She said in a whisper. "We've only known each other for a short time, yet you risked yourself to save me and her."

Xanji sighed, although although it wasn't one of annoyance. "I already told you why I did it."

"Yeah yeah, I know. But I still wanted to thank you." Raynare responded.

Both of them stood up, and faced Asia.

Xanji took a step to the side, and faced both of them.

"I'm sorry." He suddenly apologized, to the shock of both girls.

"Why are you sorry?" Raynare asked.

Xanji grimaced. "I'm sorry for what you had to see. You saw an ugly side of me." He looked down, ashamed. "I'm sorry you had to see that side of me."

He knew the way he went about things was brutal. He knew that. Xanji wasn't sure how Raynare would react, but from the short time he had known Asia, he knew she was a kind, but sheltered girl.

He wouldn't be surprised if she was terrified of what he'd done.

"I would understand if you didn't want to associate with me after tonight…"

Suddenly, Xanji felt his head being hit with a faint object. He grabbed it and his eyes widened when he saw his jacket in his hands.

Xanji looked up to see Asia in front of him with a smile on her face.

"You were a little scary before." Asia admitted. "But that's okay. I'm not afraid of you, because I know you were only trying to protect me. I don't blame you at all." Xanji's expression was one of shock.

"I think the same way." Raynare said, moving to Asia's side. "Personally I think it was a little hot."

With that, Asia's face exploded into a furious blush. "Raynare!" She whined while the fallen angel snickered.

Xanji gained a small smile.

When they both calmed down, Asia moved closer to him. "Xanji… your eye…" She trailed off. Xanji's eyes widened again, and he took a step back, reaching for his face. He'd forgotten he left his eyepatch off. Both Asia and Raynare could see his face in its entirety.

Asia carefully and hesitantly placed a hand on his left cheek. "When did this happen?" She asked. Xanji's expression quickly darkened.

"It was a long time ago." He answered shortly.

Asia placed her hands together. "If you want, maybe I could-"

"No!" Xanji moved back. "This isn't something you fix, Asia."

"You know, neither of us think any differently of you." Raynare said, Asia nodding.

Xanji looked away. "This isn't is for either of you, or for anyone else. I wear it for myself." With those words, he took the eyepatch out of his pocket, and put it back on.

"You know, you should both get some sleep." Xanji told them. "You've both been through a lot, and you're definitely tired."

"N-no! We're fine, we can-" Asia tried to argue, with Raynare ready to back her up, but Xanji waved her off. "It's okay, both of you. Just trust me, you'll both be safe when you wake up."

They seemed to relent, truly feeling safe and secure. And that's what allowed them to eventually doze off right there.

Xanji looked down at them.

**[Reset!]**

And fell to one knee as a massive wave of exhaustion hit him. He panted a few times, before shakily standing up.

**[You did well, partner.] **Ddraig spoke. **[But those two aren't the only ones who need rest.]**

'I'll rest soon. But not now.' Xanji answered mentally, as to not disturb the sleeping girls.

He grabbed both Asia and Raynare in his arms, and walked up the stairs, out of the underground room of the church. He made it halfway to the exit.

Only for Rias Gremory to run into the church like a bat out of hell.

"!?" Xanji stared at the devil, glaring at her and getting on guard. "What do you want?" He asked. Did she come for him when he was weakened?

Rias was panting. Her hair was frazzled, and her eyes were wide. She looked at Xanji with a relieved expression.

"You're… you're okay…" She said, placing a hand on her chest. "I felt an enormous surge of power, and I knew it came from here. I had a feeling you would come here, so I was worried you would be in danger." Rias explained, still sounding relieved.

Xanji stared at her with narrowed eyes. "Well, get out of my way. I'm still not accepting to be your slave. Fuck off."

He took a step forward, and stopped when Rias bowed.

"I'm sorry!" She shouted. Xanji's eye widened. "I'm really, really, really sorry!"

"For what?" Xanji asked, trying to figure out her motives.

"For everything!" Rias responded. "Turning you into a devil… what I said last night… all of it!"

Xanji didn't respond, making Rias continue.

"I really, really wasn't planning on resurrecting you against your will! I was going to ask you… but then you got attacked! I wanted to heal you, then ask you after, but I couldn't! It was the only way to save you!"

Before Xanji could respond, Rias continued.

"I know it isn't a good excuse, I know! But I was just worried! I didn't want you to die!" She shouted desperately.

When Xanji continued to stay silent, Rias got worried. "I know you don't want to be my servant! You don't have to be forever! You can move up in devil society, you can become a high-class devil, and be free!"

"And I promise that during the time you spend as my servant, I won't do anything to force you to do things you don't want to do!"

Xanji stared at Rias, and listened to her. He thought about what she said. Her emotions seemed real. It seemed she was genuinely sorry.

**[Partner, you should work with her] **Ddraig spoke.

'And why is that?'

**[Now that you've accepted and will be using my power, the chances of the White One finding you have drastically increased, so you'll need to gain as much power as possible. Actually, being a devil will make training and growth easier for you. Constantly fighting against her will only make things harder for you.]**

'...'

**[Besides, rising the ranks of devil society is the fastest way to gaining true freedom.]**

'...'

Xanji still wasn't sure.

**[What about that other goal? Did you give up on that?]**

Xanji stiffened. He knew exactly what Ddraig was referring too.

**[To do something like that, you'll need power. And a lot of it. And right now, that devil is the fastest way of getting there.]**

After Ddraig spoke those words, Xanji simply stood there, in complete silence as he contemplated the dragon's words.

For minutes on end, the church was filled with only silence. Rias stayed quiet, waiting for Xanji to respond.

Finally, he spoke.

"I don't like you." Was the first thing he said. "In fact, if I'm being honest, I quite despise you."

Rias felt an arrow pierce her, but forced herself not to crumple.

"But, whether I like it or not, these are the cards I've been dealt. I accept the fact that I'm a devil now, and that there is no going back from this."

Rias smiled at his words.

"_However_, I refuse to simply be some slave. I will not follow orders if they do not benefit me in any way."

Rias let out a small sigh, but nodded nonetheless. Besides, she rarely forced her servants to do things far out of their comfort zones anyways.

"Two, I need money. I'm fucking sick and tired of being dirt poor. I don't need to be rich, just enough to support multiple people."

Rias nodded. "Of course, that's an easy one."

"The last thing, for now at least, is a house. I need someplace to stay and sleep. As soon as possible."

"Of course, I'll call my family and have it done as quickly as possible."

"No, like, right now. This very moment. Because I'm currently homeless, and now have two people that are going to live with me."

"Well, getting a house immediately might be a tad difficult…" Rias said.

Xanji snapped his head in her direction, and summoned his Boosted Gear threateningly.

"What was that!?"

"Y-you can sleep in the ORC building for the night! We'll have a house ready by tomorrow!"

…

**And on that note, this chapter is officially over.**

**Hopefully none of you are too disappointed Xanji isn't going stray, or attempting to. But it isn't like he's going to be buddy-buddy with them right off the bat, of course.**

**He still doesn't like Rias or any of the others (he hasn't actually really met them yet), Xanji has accepted that his best course of action is cooperating with them for now, until he gets stronger.**

**Oh yeah, I tried to put a bit more character into Kalawarner and Mittelt. Usually they're either just immediately killed (which is fine), or added as harem members without really giving them much character (less fine). **

**Oh yeah, Xanji doesn't hesitate to kill his enemies. He came into the abandoned church with the intent to kill everyone in there (safe for Asia and Raynare) and that's what he did.**

**Speaking of which, yeah, Freed's fucking dead. Don't worry, I have plans for when he was supposed to appear in the future. **

**Also, Azazel knows about Xanji now. I wonder what will happen?**

**Hopefully next chapter will take a bit less time, but who knows. **

**Next chapter will mostly be just talking and introductions, with a devil contract possibly being thrown there. **

**And after that, familiar time! No suggestions, I already have a plan. And spoiler, it isn't going to be some chick to be added to the harem.**


End file.
